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THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 



TIffi 



SECRET OF THE LORD. 



ANNA SHIPTON, 

author of 

"tell jestts;" "the child minister ;" 

"wayside service; or, the day of small things;" 

"the brook in the way;" 

etc., etc. 



' ' 1 will mention the loving-kindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the 
Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great good- 
ness toward the house of Israel, which He hath bestowed on them according 
to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His loving-kindnesses." 

ISAIAH lxiii. 7. 



, \ - iTbtv:}; C^Uiatv- 



MORGAN AND CHASE, 38, LUDGATE HILL." 

and may ee ordered of any bookseller. 



iSloT- 



[The right of Translation is reserved.] 



to 

© 

o 

& DEDICATION. 

> 

r 

" If ye abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ye shall 
ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." 

JOHX ST. 7. 



7^0 the Lord, the true God, the living 

God, the everlasting King, I commit 

l^r?f tn i s feeble effort to show forth His 

qy> praise. May He who giveth life to 

the dead, and taketh note of the fall of a 

sparrow, give life, and speech, and blessing, 

to the following simple pages. 

All that is of Himself shall live. May all 
that is not according to the mind of the Spirit 
be blotted out in the precious blood of the 
Lamb slain, 

For Jesu's sake, 

Amen. 

115 * ^ 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. Page 

THE RAVEN 's CRY . . . . 1 

CHAPTER II. 
WALKING WITH GOD . . . .14 

CHAPTER III. 
LEANING ON JESUS . . 45 

CHAPTER IT. 
FELLOWSHIP . . . .67 

CHAPTER V. 
THE WITNESS OF THE SPIKIT . . .85 

CHAPTER VI. 
DESERT PLACES . . . .105 

CHAPTER VII. 
THE WAY OF THE LORD . . . .140 

CHAPTER VIII. 
THE SYMPATHY OF JE8U8 . . . .174 

CHAPTER IX. 
THE GREAT ADVERSARY . . . .197 

CHAPTER X. 
TESTIMONY ..... 20S 



THE SECEET OE THE LORD. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE RAVEN S CRY. 

' Pie giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens 
which cry." — Psa. cxlvii. 9. 

' Ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought 
with you for my name's sake, not according to your 
wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings." — 

Ezek. xs. 44. 

F God will not help me, no one else can !" 
The words were spoken almost despair- 
ingly by a pale, sad -faced child of about 
five years of age. A fruitless search for 
some lost possession had left her over- 
whelmed with sorrow. She sat alone upon the 
ground, and gazed on the heavy clouds that 
crossed the sky in the dim autumn twilight. 
Having no one below to sympathize in her 
B 



2 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

distress, she looked for the first time from earth 
to heaven, experimentally learning, "Vain is 
the help of man." 

The child had lost a treasure, and children's 
treasures are precious, and children's griefs are 
sharp. 

The loss comprised a lock of her dead 
mother's hair. She had worn the locket con- 
taining it since the day she could remember 
anything. Nightly she was expected to place 
this on her table, that it might be seen that it 
was safe. She had neglected to do so, and now 
it was gone, — how or where she knew not, — 
and the child wept. 

It was not for the ornament, nor yet for her 
disobedience, but for the loss of that brown 
braid of glossy hair in the tiny casket — the 
child's wealth. 

She knew that the locket would be missed 
from her neck, and that she would be punished ; 
but what punishment could exceed that silent 
unshared sorrow ? The joy of her life had de- 
parted ; and though careless eyes observed that 
she did not eat, none remarked her sad face, or 
the absence of the chain. 



THE RAVEN S CRY. 6 

" I wish it was Sunday," said the child. " I 
could go to church; perhaps God would hear 
rne there." 

The child did not know that God's house is 
not made with hands, and that He is every- 
where nigh to all that call upon Him. This 
was Friday, and two long days must intervene 
before she could make her request known to 
Him in church. The longest day however 
has an end, and Sunday came at length. 
Kneeling in the extreme corner of the pew 
with her face to the wall, observed by none 
but God, she told over the petition with which 
her heart was ready to burst, and ended as 
she began: "If You do not help me, no one 
else can." So she begged Him to send her 
back her lost locket, for He alone knew where 
it was. When her prayer was over, a strange 
peace fell on the heart of the little sup- 
pliant. She did not question that her voice 
had reached the ear of the Most High, who 
rules the world. 

Yes ! gracious and Almighty God, Father of 
the fatherless, as one whom his mother com- 



4 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

forteth, so didst Thou comfort her. Thou wert 
working for the desolate little one. 

When she returned home, the sun shone 
brightly in her nursery, and glittered on the 
golden chain. Hastily she opened her casket 
and found her treasure safe. But she did not 
praise Him who had heard her cry. Only the 
soul that knows salvation through the Lamb 
slain can praise. 

The power of the Lord had wrought on the 
conscience of the thief to restore the stolen 
article, and it was not until thirty years after- 
wards that the culprit was known. 

Dear reader, that child now records the first 
remembered token of a loving Father's care 
over thy fellow-sinner, who by His grace would 
commune with thee by the way. In conscious 
helplessness I cast myself upon Him, who has 
redeemed me from death and hell, and I would 
show forth His praise. My cry is still, "If 
Thou wilt not help me, no one else can ! " 

I know not how far this early evidence of a 
loving Father's care influenced my soul. Cer- 
tain I am, that since I have known Him as 
my Redeemer and Lord, it has often made me 



THE KAVEX'S CEY. 5 

ashamed to lack the simple faith of a child. 
Through long years of sin and ignorance the 
remembrance of the recovery of my lost chain 
has made me realize anew that God, who feedeth 
the young ravens when they cry, will much 
more care for the soul that calleth upon Him. 

Since He gave me eyes to see Him, daily 
have I been proving His wondrous power and 
willingness to help me. And yet, even when 
He has reminded me, "All power is given unto 
Me in heaven and on earth," I have fallen back 
upon my own miserable plans and natural 
understanding, as if I had not again and again 
proved that I had infinite wisdom and power 
to draw from. 

It is written, " When the Son of Man com- 
eth, shall He find faith on the earth ?" He will 
find works, abounding works, of the natural 
heart, in which He has no part as the Author, 
or Counsellor, or Partner; but of the faith that 
lives in Him, watches for Him, waits for Him, 
follows Him — how little ! 

And yet Jesus died to bring us near to the 
Father, that we might walk with Him, thus re- 
storing the heavenly communion which Adam's 



6 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

sin had invested with terror and shame. The 
daily intercourse of confidential affection calls 
for no preliminary ceremony. Communion does 
not consist in a mere narration of wants or 
confession of failure. It is an interchange of 
mind, a giving forth and receiving. Neither 
are there any formal preparations to be gone 
through, nor set phrases to be uttered, before 
we acknowledge His abiding presence. "The 
secret of the Lord " has been well described as 
"that peculiar presence of God which is the 
secret of His people, with the assurance that 
they are His." Who that has known this 
" secret " has not thirsted for deeper and fuller 
revelations of Himself? He has been found 
of them while waiting in the sanctuary and 
watching by the way. 

It was the living God, of whom I read in 
the Scriptures, that my soul longed to know. 
Seeking Jesus, my weary heart turned away 
from what was offered me instead : and I shall 
for ever praise Him for the sorrow, and sickness, 
and trial, which have beset my path; since thus, 
and thus only, have I known that all other 
refuges are vain. Often have I returned to my 



THE RAVEN S CRY. / 

first childish prayer : " If You do not help me, 
no' one else can!" I have thus learnt to love 
the cross ere it has been removed, so many 
Peniels has it marked on my otherwise toil- 
some way. 

When I am told that the desire of intimacy 
with my risen Lord is irreverent and un- 
natural, I test the foolishness of man by the 
wisdom of God. "The natural man receiveth 
not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they 
are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know 
them, because they are spiritually discerned." 
(1 Cor. ii. 11) "Henceforth I call you not 
servants ; for the servant knoweth not what 
his Lord doeth : but I have called you friends." 
" If a man love Me, he will keep my words ; 
and my Father will love him, and we will 
come unto him, and make our abode with 
him." (John xv. 15 ; xiv. 23.) 

Shall we read these gracious promises as if 
they were merely forms of speech, and treat 
the Lord of life as if He were a wayfaring 
man who tarries for a night? Is He not the 
light and centre of that temple in which He 
has taken up His abode ? Shall He be sought 



8 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

for in special emergencies when other help 
fails, while the flesh, in which dwelleth«no 
good thing, regards ordinary times and events 
as those with which the God who appointed 
them has nothing to do? 

Each trial of onr faith hath its commission 
from the Father of spirits : in the end it will 
speak; if it tarry, wait for it. The heavenly 
Master has still His eye upon His weary 
followers toiling in rowing, and each wave of 
circumstance bears Him on its crest. Listen ! 
His voice is in the storm ; and believe that each 
billow is appointed by the Lord, whom winds 
and waves obey : " It is I, be not afraid." 

We are not required to live above circum- 
stances ; they are assigned to us that we may 
obtain therein a deeper. experience of the love 
and wisdom of Him to whom all power is 
given in heaven and on earth. 

The encouraging "Fear nots!" with which the 
Holy Scriptures abound, promise us help and 
companionship through the rivers, not above 
them , safety in the fires, not escape from 
them , that we may behold His way in the 
sea, and His path in the mighty waters; that 



THE RAYEN S CRY. y 

the Father may be glorified in the life of Christ 
manif( sted in us by the Holy Ghost. 

If the eye of faith is withdrawn from Christ 
crucified, be assured that how much soever of 
theoretical and doctrinal knowledge we may 
possess, and however fervent the aspiration and 
utterance of religious sentiment may be, we 
shall be barren and unfruitful, and fail of the 
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in 
the face of Jesus Christ. 

It is the Spirit's presence in us that tells 
whence our life springs. Whether in the ware- 
house or the shop, in the poorest hovel or in 
the mansion of the rich and noble, the child of 
God is called to witness for Him. The power 
of testimony that one solitary soul may possess 
will carry its influence through time and eter- 
nity. "The Lord hath set apart him that is 
godly for Himself: the Lord will hear when 
he calleth unto Him." "I have declared, and 
have saved, and I have showed, when there 
was no strange god among you : therefore ye 
are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am 
God." (Psalm iv. 3 ; Isaiah xliii. 12.) 

The coast of Cornwall, particularly in and 



10 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

near Mount's Bay, is visited by the warm 
Gulf-stream, which is the secret of its health- 
ful temperature. There is little alternation in 
the atmosphere by day or night. There is 
not much information to be obtained concern- 
ing this interesting phenomenon, but the in- 
fluence is felt and seen, though the Gulf- 
stream itself is flowing unseen in the ocean, 
separated in a manner from the deep waters, 
through which it passes without mingling. 
The lands it visits are warmed by it; the air 
above, and in its vicinity, is soft and balmy ; 
exotics seen nowhere else in England flourish 
in its neighbourhood, and many an early blos- 
som is put forth before the winter has else- 
where departed. In the caves of the rocks, and 
occasionally in some places of the coast, its pre- 
sence is known by the rare and beautiful shells, 
which, carried safely by the current through 
the ocean, are left as the productions of a dis- 
tant shore, and tell whence the stream flowed. 

As I felt the soft influence of this genial 
stream in the months of early spring, it never 
failed to remind me of the hidden life in 
Christ — the positive blessing flowing from the 



THE RAVEN'S CRY. 11 

fulness of the Spirit in the soul of a child of 
the light, dwelling in this ungodly world — a 
continual contrast to that negative Christianity, 
which lives only on the lips of formal profes- 
sors, bringing neither warmth nor blessing to 
themselves, nor light nor gladness to others. 

"The secret of the Lord is with them that 
fear Him, and He will show them His cove- 
nant." The worldling has no part nor lot in 
this promise. It is yours, child of God, to 
whom I write, saved and separated from the 
world lying in wickedness. Can you be content 
to walk in your blindness, in paths everywhere 
beset with danger, without heavenly counsel 
and companionship ? Can you endure the be- 
numbing cares of life without carrying them 
separately to the mighty Counsellor, that com- 
mon things may be cleansed and sanctified to 
His service? For if there is any matter of/ 
which it can be said, "I cannot ask the bless-fl 
ing of the Lord on this," then neither ought 'it '. 
to be an occupation in which His follower I 
should be found. 

Search the Scriptures; they testify of Him 
with whom I pray you to walk a day's journey. 



12 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

Be assured, if your heart burn within you, that 
the Son of man has made one of our company. 
May God the Holy Ghost reveal Him more 
and more to His waiting people, and open their 
understanding, that they may know Jesus : 
then will they surely seek their brethren, and 
tell what things were done in the way. 

Let the perplexed and dispirited traveller eat 
of the bread that cometh down from heaven ; 
the Lord shall be known in the breaking thereof. 
Strengthened in His strength, he shall realize 
the promise of the Father, and rejoice in the 
assurance of Him who cannot lie : " Lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world." (Matt, xxviii. 20.) May it be said, "And 
it came to pass, that while they communed to- 
gether and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, 
and went with them." (Luke xxiv. 15.) 



THE SOUL'S PETITION. 

"Ask, and it shall be giyen you."— Matt. vii. 7. 
Oh for a priceless crown of stars 

To cast before the throne, 
And a seraph's voice of melody 

To tell what grace hath done; 



THE KAVEN'S CRY. 

To sing Thy praise, Lamb of God, 

Who for the sinner died ; 
To tell the love of Him once slain— 

Jesus, the Crucified. 
Grant, Lord, unto this longing heart 

Thy blood hath washed from sin, 
To image back Thy holiness, 

As Thou dost dwell within. 
Give me a will subdued and meek, 

Obedient to Thy Word, 
To prove the might of Him who lives— 

Jesus, my risen Lord. 

Give to my hand a heavenly harp, 

To hymn Thy matchless worth, 
To echo o'er the sea of glass, 

While waiting still on earth : 
Cause it to break the sleeper's dream, 

And downcast spirits cheer ; 
And to Thy watching people tell, 

The Bridegroom draweth near. 

Give, Lord— I ask it from Thy grace,— 

The heart, the harp, the crown ; 
I ask them for Thy service here, 

And all shall be Thine own. 
I bless Thee for Thy love's sweet seal, 

And nought Thy love can sever ; 
Lord, lead me on from strength to strength 

To follow Thee for ever. 






14 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 




CHAPTER II. 

WALKING WITH GOD. 

•' If wo live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." 
Gal. v. 25. 

^AN two walk together except they be 
i agreed ? " Can " lovers of their own- 
selves, covetous, boasters, lovers of 
k^ pleasures more than lovers of God, 
having a form of godliness, but deny- 
ing the power thereof," have fellowship with 
Him? 

The old Adam can never be made better; 
there is no promise for that, though its mani- 
festations may differ. Man may adorn it and 
cultivate it as he will, but its most admired 
acts are glittering sins. It is the devil's plan- 
tation (Mark vii. 21) ; the fairest and the 
deadliest fruit that thrives there, the wild and 
poisonous grape, is the form of godliness with- 
out the power. 



WALKING WITH GOD. 15 

Mesh, and blood cannot inherit the kingdom 
of God, nor can the natural heart have com- 
munion with the Holy One. The glory of 
grass may be beautiful to the eye, but it is 
still grass, and will be burnt up. "All flesh is 
not the same flesh : but there is one kind of 
flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and 
another of fishes, and another of birds." Many 
forms appear so gracious in their humanities 
that we admire them; while we shun others, 
repulsed by their coarseness. Some, fair and 
alluring, appear to soar above the earth, and 
others less prominent seem harmless and silent. 
We are prone to forget that the fairest only 
resemble what is acceptable to God, and that the 
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. 
All the natural wisdom and sagacity of man 
have never done anything for the kingdom of 
grace. 

From careful calculation astronomers have 
foretold the comet which appears in due season, 
and by diligent investigation of the heavens, 
have discovered new planets in our hemisphere. 
Columbus, by his observation of the weeds 
borne on the bosom of the western wave, was 



1G THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

led to reflect on the probable position of the land 
which he afterwards discovered. But neither 
the contemplation of the heavenly bodies, nor 
the discovery of a new world of land and 
water, can bring the soul into the experience of 
spiritual life, nor open to it the mysteries of 
grace in the eternal kingdom. "Let no man de- 
ceive himself. If any man among you seemeth 
to be wise in this world,, let him become. a fool, 
that he may be wise." (1 Cor. iii. 18.) 

The old creation lies beneath the curse, and 
is condemned already. The new creation, born 
of the Holy Spirit, involves a new life, a new 
aim, a new object. None but those in whom 
He dwells can understand that it is by His 
power alone that they can know God, walk 
with Him here, and live with Him eternally. 
The babe must first know Him with whom he 
would walk : he requires food that he may 
grow, and the due exercise of his spiritual 
faculties is necessary, in order that he may 
respond to the voice of Him who calls him to 
follow Him. The Giver of life is the Giver of 
grace : from Him alone is derived the appetite 
for the hidden manna, and the spiritual thirst 



WALKING WITH GOD. 17 

which can only be satisfied by the waters of 
life; and this mnst be received before the 
living waters can flow from the regenerated 
heart to others. (John iv. 14.) 

The Lord does not delight in a cistern or in 
a stagnant pool, but in a channel for life-giving 
streams. (John vii. 38.) To follow the Lord 
then, we need to know Him (Jer. xxiv. 7); to 
know Him is to love Him. I must have open 
ears to hear Him in His Word, and in the way. 
(Isa. xxx. 21.) I must have open eyes to behold 
Him in His providence, and in His dealings 
with me. Nay, I must perceive Him in cir- 
cumstances and in places where the wise man 
of the world can see nothing, or at most blind 
chance. And if I handle holy things, it must 
not be with the intellectual knowledge of the 
old nature, but by the power of the Holy Ghost, 
as He shall show them to me. For "the wisdom 
of the world is foolishness with God." 

The soul born of God is complete in Christ, 
as the oak enfolded in the acorn. All the 
heavenly faculties are perfect in the germ in 
the child of God : if they are not exercised, it 
does not follow that they do not exist. Many 
c 



18 THE SECKET OF THE LORD. 

quickened souls take Christ as their Redeemer, 
who, from lack of knowledge of foundation 
truths, manifest but feeble outward evidences 
of redemption. 

He who is made unto us wisdom, righteous- 
ness, and sanctification, is willing to give us 
the continual witness of the Spirit as we walk 
with Him. He would have us to know whom 
we have believed, to be assured that our Rock 
cannot be moved, that bread will be given us, 
and that our water will be sure. If we believe 
Kim, we draw from Him such supplies of grace 
as develope and strengthen the child of God 
for heavenly citizenship. The new nature is a 
garden enclosed, in which the Lord delights to 
walk and talk. There is the sealed fountain, 
there bloom the fragrant spices, there ripen the 
pleasant fruits for Him. (Gal. v. 22.) He says 
of His garden enclosed, "I the Lord do keep it; 
I will water it every moment : lest any hurt it, 
I will keep it night and day." " Joy and glad- 
ness shall be found therein ; thanksgiving, and 
the voice of melody." And will He ever forsake 
it ? Nay, when all seems silent, it is not death. 
The frost but withers the weeds; the Husband- 



WALKING WITH GOD. 19 

man is there, and where He is, there is life. 
Let us not expect the way to be a sunny sail 
upon the lake of Galilee. The faculties given 
must be exercised, the faith granted must be 
tried (seven times, if need be) in the fire. Nor 
shall we have escaped beyond the tempter's 
wiles, and the secret assaults of sin, until that 
triumphant hour when this mortal shall put 
on immortality, and death is swallowed up in 
victory. When we see the Lord as He is, we 
shall be satisfied; for we shall be like Him: 
" and every man that hath this hope in Him, 
purifieth himself, even as He is pure." 

The thief upon the cross, and the beloved 
John, were alike complete in Christ. The same 
simplicity of faith which drew the dying male- 
factor to trust in the love and power of Him 
in whose kingdom He desired to be remem- 
bered, was only a phase of the like faith in the 
disciple whom Jesus loved, who leaned with 
endeared familiarity upon his divine Master's 
breast, believing, from the love He bore him, 
his right to rest there. 

Communion with God is no subject of cold 
speculation. The Scriptures are replete with 
c 2 



20 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

it. The vague idea of Jehovah, as the carnal 
heart understands Him, has no place there. 
He is everywhere, a very present God; from 
the glades of Eden, where He talked with 
Adam in the cool of the day, to that resurrec- 
tion morning when, in tones of human tender- 
ness, He called the weeping woman by name — 
everywhere, and at all times, adapting Himself 
to the need of His people. All proclaim Him a 
God near at hand, as well as afar off; cognizant 
of our secret desires, responding to the faintest 
cry ; a living God — the God of the living. 

Moses walked with God. " I have known 
thee by name" is the testimony of intimate 
fellowship between God and man. For "the 
Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man 
speaketh unto his friend." While " with His 
own right hand He gat Himself the victory," 
yet it pleased Him to use the instrument He 
had prepared for His service : the friend of 
His counsels, whom He had ordained the leader 
and deliverer of His chosen people. 

Noah walked with God. The Most High 
made known to him His judgments against an 
ungodly world, and accepted his family for the 



WALKING WITH GOD. 21 

sake of the righteousness of his faith working 
obedience. 

Enoch walked with God, and begat sons and 
daughters ; and before he was translated he had 
this testimony, that he pleased God. The secret 
revelation of that translation we must suppose 
was the test of his belief in the Lord's almighty 
power and truth ; for " without faith it is im- 
possible to please God ; for he that cometh to 
God must believe that He is, and that He is 
a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." 
(Heb. xi. 6.) 

Abraham walked with God ; in what close 
and familiar intercourse the Holy Spirit has 
not left us ignorant. God Himself calls him 
His friend! Doubtless, as He revealed to 
Moses some glimpse of that Messianic glory 
which was to come afterwards, the express 
image of His person, so also in the typical 
sacrifice of Isaac, the paternal heart of Abra- 
ham was made to enter into that mysterious 
transaction which gave the Lamb of God to 
die for the sin of a guilty world. 

"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear 
Him, and He will show them His covenant:" 



THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

(see margin — "His covenant to make them 
know it.") His delights with the suns. of men 
began before He made Himself in all things 
their brother : doth His pleasure in them cease 
now that, by taking on Himself their nature, He 
has wrought for them that great salvation ? 

The vail of the temple was rent in. twain 
when the Son of God proclaimed the mighty 
sacrifice "finished." But ere He entered the 
gates of glory, and sat down on His Father's 
throne, the Son of man returned to His "breth- 
ren," to comfort their hearts and strengthen 
their faith. Still He delights in the loving 
constraining of His followers, even as when 
Abraham besought Him to tarry in his tent, 
and His sorrowing disciples entreated Him to 
abide with them. 

He is the ever-present Friend. You cannot 
see Him with the natural eye, as did the 
favoured band on the shore of Tiberias ; but 
you can commune with Him as truly, and He 
with you. Like those dear disciples, essen- 
tially men subject to like passions as we arc, 
you may think Him to be far off upon the 
mountain, and find Him when least expected, 



WALKING WITH GOD. 23 

in the tumult of perplexity and fears ; having 
forgotten that when your need is the sorest, He 
promises special manifestations of His presence 
and power. 

There are the hidden ones of God, whose life 
of faith we see not, though we partake of its 
fruit; but there are others it would take many a 
page to record, whose life has been manifested 
before the Church and before the world. 

The fact of two thousand two hundred orphan 
children having been gathered under holy teach- 
ing, fed and clothed, and educated for various 
callings, is a testimony in our own land of 
what simple faith achieves* To the unbeliever, 
the New Orphan Houses on Ashley Down 
are tangible proof of the prevailing power of 
prayer. Those who know the Narrative of 
that honoured servant of God, Mr. Miiller, of 
Bristol, and his multifarious labours, cannot 
but feel that not one link in that vast chain of 
blessing but must (both in its formation and 
continuance) have been forged and constructed 
by the almighty power of God. " Jotham be- 

* The total number since 1836 is 2263. See "The 
Bristol Orphan Homes axd their. Founder." By Rev. 
Dr. Weir. Morgan and Chase. 



24 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

came mighty, because he prepared his ways 
before the Lord his God." (2 Chron. xxvii. 6.) 
These are facts which the natural eye and 
natural heart may take knowledge of. But the 
soul, partaking of the like precious faith, reads 
the mystery of these facts in the same secret 
with faithful Abraham. George Miiller walks 
with God. 

Again, not long since, by the Lake of Zurich, 
lived Dorothea Triidel * the orphan daughter 
of a godly mother. The Lord chose richly to 
manifest what grace wrought in her and by 
her, through the power of the Holy Ghost. 
Sorrow and sickness had early put her in a 
position to sympathize with the sufferin. 
others. Many were the diseased bodies re- 
stored to health and activity, and the dis- 
ordered minds healed of their plague, — main- 
were the souls granted to the prayer of faith, — 
before Dorothea formed her establishment for 
healing the sick. Neither the unholy powers 
of spiritualism, or animal magnetism, or clair- 
voyance, can bring souls to Jesus ; nor could 
they cast around the dwelling of this German 
* "Tin; Prayer of Faith.'' Morgan and Chase. 



WALKING WITH GOD. 25 

maiden the heavenly element in which the divine 
life throve. Faith and prayer ! these were the 
secrets which the famous physicians, jealous 
of her success, and the curious investigation of 
the wise men of the world, failed to discover. 
Dorothea Triidel walked with God. 

The missionary labours of Pastor Gossner, of 
Berlin, Francke's Orphanage at Halle, and the 
lives of many more who have set their hope in 
God and believed in Him, will suggest them- 
selves to the reader. There have been such in 
every age ; God knows them all ; some day we 
shall know them too. Now we are responsible 
for their testimony. Men hear and read of 
them ; and if they are not called to go forth on 
special missionary enterprises, to build orphan 
houses, to heal the sick, or to act in some way 
prominently in sight of the world, they satisfy 
themselves that they are exempt from the same 
walk of simple faith. Is it so ? If the saint is 
indifferent to his high calling, it is that unbelief 
is the lion in the way, so that he fears to con- 
fide in Jesus. Mourning for lack of sympathy, 
and depressed beneath the burden of perplexity 
and sorrow which no fellow-traveller can com- 



20 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

prehend or soothe, he does not realize that 
there is a Companion of the cross, who is with 
him even to the end, — changeless in affection, 
unfathomable in wisdom, unlimited in power, 
perfect in holiness, — Jehovah Jesus ! 

"The secret of the Lord is with them that 
fear Him ;" but how few desire to walk in that 
happy fellowship with God, which the Lord 
Jesus Christ died to restore to fallen man ! 

If we take Jesus at His word, and believe 
He is with us "alway," as He said, then the 
humblest incident of our daily life is invested 
with a speech and language to the listening 
soul. This will be when our eyes are up unto 
the Lord, and we walk in the light ; then it is 
that the minutest thread of divine purpose 
unfolds yet more of His love, His wisdom, and 
His power. Then the soul exults in its help- 
lessness, because it is the medium of showing 
forth the faithfulness and might of Jehovah ! 

On one occasion I had apartments with a 
friend, more expensive than I should have 
taken alone ; they were very large, and plea- 
santly situated. 



WALKING WITH GOD. 27 

It was laid on my mind to prepare for the 
press a manuscript which I had partly written ; 
but I knew that if I used up the little strength 
I had, in seeking for lodgings or in packing, it 
would be impossible to finish my manuscript. 
It seemed as if the Lord would keep me where 
I was until it was completed. I told the land- 
lady that her apartments would now be more 
than I could afford, and that I proposed to leave 
her in a few days. On hearing this she begged 
me to continue there, at my own terms, until 
she found a tenant. As the proposition came 
from herself, I saw more directly the hand of 
the Lord in it, and I consented to remain. 
Week after week went by, without any appli- 
cation for my rooms. One morning the landlady 
remarked upon it. I could not refrain from a 
smile, but I told her that she would not be 
allowed to lose. I said, " I have a little work 
to do ; when it is finished, you will let your 
lodgings." But it was not yet done. 

A few days after this, on my return from 
the beach, I saw a fly at the door ; a family had 
called, and were about to take the rooms that 
afternoon. They had gone to another house 



28 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

a few doors higher, and would decide in a few 
minutes. My first feeling was one of utter 
desolation. I had not a person I could ask to 
help me; but as this thought swept over my 
heart, 1 remembered that I had a Friend in 
heaven, and I said, "Lord, let the people like 
the other house best," and sat down. But I had 
not cast all my care on my heavenly Friend ; 
consequently I put on my cloak and went out, 
and sought for another abode. One was quite 
unsuitable, and the next was very gloomy. I 
returned ; the fly was gone ; the ladies had sent 
word that they liked the other house best, ]\Iy 
blessed Lord had cared for His child. 

I learnt by this, first, that this place was 
given to me in order that I might do my work ; 
and, secondly, that I must not loiter. 

One day, while upon the sands I remarked 
three children, a girl of nine, a boy of eight, 
and another of six, busy making sand towers. 
I spoke to them: they were very shy at first, 
but were evidently well-trained children, gentle 
and courteous, simple in their manners, and 
very fair to look upon. 

I watched them ui>til they were weary of 



WALKING WITH GOD. 29 

their spades, and then I called to them, and 
told them the history of a child, which soon 
won their attention. The youngest boy had 
an evil expression, although so young, and a 
strange hatred of the very name of Jesus. A 
friendship sprang up between the two elder and 
myself. Day after day we met on the strand, 
and at the first glimpse of me their play was 
left. As they sat one on each side of me, I 
spoke to them of Jesus — of heaven — and of 
God's gracious love in giving His own Son to 
die for sinners. 

They were of a family of some rank, and were 
living within a few doors of my lodgings. In a 
short time, with whomsoever they might be, at 
sight of me they bounded to my side. 

When I found a difficulty in procuring 
suitable lodgings, I thought it was the Lord's 
will that I should leave the place ; for I felt 
that, as my work was nearly done, I should 
soon be called upon to give up my apartments. 
Yet the Lord was blessing me with the dear 
children, and I did not like to quit the neigh- 
bourhood. 

The following Sunday I was sitting on the 



30 THE SECRET OF THE LOUD. 

beach, when suddenly I saw ray two little 
friends walking with their mother. They sprang 
forward to me as usual ; but I told them it 
was not kind to leave their mother, and bade 
them return. The lady stood at a distance and 
watched us; and when the children had walked 
a little with her, they were sent in; then, to my 
dismay, with slow steps she approached me, and 
for a moment stood before me silently. I lifted 
up my heart for grace to help, for I thought she 
had come to complain of the children loving 
Jesus. But no ! She said almost timidly, 

" May I sit down with you ?" 

I made room for her by my side. She con- 
tinued, "I come to thank you for your kindness 
to my children. You have won their hearts. 

As you have spoken to my L , now speak 

to her mother." My heart was very full, as we 
talked together. I told her that I expected to 
leave my former lodgings. She asked me if she 
might send the children to visit me; "And will 
you let me come too — come h/ myself V 1 

She came ; and I can only hope it was not 
in vain that we met, 

My work was finished. I rang the bell and 



WALKING WITH GOD. 31 

told my landlady that she would let her 
rooms, as my work was completed. She looked 
amazed, and said, 

" If you really think so, I should like to go 
into the country with my family for a day." 

I told her to do so. 

In the afternoon I went out, and on my 
return I saw a carriage laden with luggage at 
the door. I felt the time was come — that the 
rooms were mine no longer. Even so. The 
servant did not wish to let them, and therefore 
named half as much again as her mistress had 
spoken of. It made no difference ; the people 
engaged them. When the landlady returned, her 
house was let at a price far "beyond her usual 
terms. The family remained many months 
during the dull season, when no other houses 
near had inmates. It was the means of waken- 
ing in the landlady's heart a desire of learning 
something of Him, whom she knew not as the 
Saviour of all men, specially of those who 
believe. She came to see rne several times, and 
blessed the remembrance of the wonderful way 
in which the Lord had kept me in her house. 

I took a lodging, the only one I met with 



32 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

that was within my means ; it was a dull place, 
looking out on a wall. It had formerly beeu a 
large house, and was now divided into two or 
three smaller tenements. 

I required a south room if possible, a good 
bedroom, and also rain-water ; for the water in 
this place was very bad. I mentioned these 
wants to my heavenly Father, leaving other 
things to Him to choose for me. 

I felt very anxious to be where the Lord 
needed me, and I prayed for these things partly 
as a sign of His approval. While I was in the 
drawing-room speaking of the rent, the landlady 
said, " If you will come and see the bedroom, 
I think you will decide upon it ; it is a large 
south room, with a wide bay window." I went 
in and found, as she said, a delightful room ; and 
as I went downstairs, she added, "We have a 
deep old-fashioned tank, full of rain-water, so 
that there is a bath for you every day if you 
like." 

Then I knew that the Lord, by the woman's 
words, had said, " This is your place ; rest here.' 
Accordingly I took possession of my tent. 

I went to bed, weary and thankful; but 



WALKING WITH GOD. 33 

sleep was out of the question. Every quarter 
of au hour, through the thin partition, from 
the other house, a low hollow cough rang in 
my ears. I arose more weary than when I lay 
down. The next night it was the same. At a 
loss what to do, yet feeling sure that here I was 
ordered to come, I was bewildered. At last I 
cried to the Lord, " Oh, how long am I before I 
reach out my hand to ' the Eock that is higher 
than I!"' 

It became clear to me that I must go into 
the next house, and inquire for the person who 
coughed. God would teach me the rest. The 
people were Eomanists. They told me that a 
family of three lodged above, and that one, the 
eldest girl, was dying of consumption. With 
some reluctance the man was persuaded to go 
up and ask them to see me. He returned, and 
said the sick one was alone; I might enter. 

I shall not forget the scene. It was a lofty 
room, in the full blaze of a September after- 
noon. There were two large windows without 
blinds or curtains, scarcely an article of fur- 
niture but of the oldest and meanest descrip- 
tion ; and, lying on a heap of straw, .covered 
D 



34 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

with a coarse coverlid, was one of the most 
beautiful women I ever saw, although far ad- 
vanced in consumption. Her features were of 
the most faultless model, and a mass of golden 
hair, bright even though untended and uncared 
for, fell over her shoulders. Her large blue 
e}'es looked up smilingly in my face without 
the least restraint or surpise. 

I felt it was food that she needed, and said, 
"I am living next door. I heard you cough. 
Will it help you if I send some dinner daily 
from my table?" She did not reply, but smiled 
like a child listening to a story. I spoke but 
little more that day. 

In a few days I remarked a visible change in 
her appearance. Her hair was now smooth on 
her marble- white forehead, and she had lost the 
expression of extreme exhaustion : her voice too 
was stronger. I told her that since my first visit 
I had not heard her cough above once or twice 
in the night. She said it was so, and continued, 

"You must have thought me very rude 
when you first came and offered me dinner 
every day, and sent me what I needed ; but J 
was expecting you." 



WALKING WITH GOD. 35 

*How so ? I never was in this part of the 
town in my life before." 

She answered, " Up to the day before you 
came to see me I had a kind friend to help 
me. She has very little means, only what 
she can give from her own savings. She was 
obliged to go from this place the day before 
you arrived. She had nothing to leave with 
me, no one she could ask to assist me ; but 
she said God could help me. She passed the 
night in prayer for a friend to be raised up for 
me; and she told me one would be sent, and 
I believed her; so I was just watching for the 
friend God was to send, when you came in. 
When I saw you, though I expected some one, 
I could not speak." She added, "I was very 
weak." 

"What food had you taken that day ?" 

She smiled as she answered, " Two potatoes." 

The cough disturbed me no more. It ceased 

almost entirely at night. I visited her often, 

and she received me gladly. She was a very 

remarkable person. Her age twenty-five. Her 

father, a Protestant, was dead. At the father's 

death, her mother, a Romanist, brought her 

d 2 



3G THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

children and settled herself close by a convent. 
No one came near the poor girl. I was able to 
pra / and read to her, and she loved to listen. 
I believed her converted. I cannot tell. ' She 
said she used to pray that I should not leave her 
while she lived, and her prayer was granted. 

One day her mother asked the priest to visit 
her ; then all our interviews were over. Food, 
now that she needed it not, was sent her from 
the convent, and her mother would throw 
away any little delicacy I sent her. She was 
surrounded with Sisters of Mercy and lady- 
visitors : but her end was come, and it mattered 
little. She became rapidly worse, when I re- 
ceived a summons to London. The day before 
1 was to leave, I went in to see my poor 
neighbour. She was dying fast. She said over 
and over again, " I shall meet you in heaven." 
The weather was very sultry, but she could 
not bear the window open by reason of the 
noise, and the atmosphere of the room was 
almost stifling. She said, 

" They asked me why I smiled just now. / 
could see what they could not. The flies are 
settling on my hands and face, and I smiled to 



WALKING WITH GOP. 37 

see the angels brush them away. You believe 
me," she said, addressing me, " so I tell you" 

My work was done; I did not see her die. 
She was in convulsions and insensible when I 
left the next day, and extreme unction was 
being administered to her. Oh, what had I 
not learnt of God's loving care ! I could only 
do what He gave me to do, and as long as He 
g ive me to do it. But it was another experience 
of the necessity of casting our care on Him 
who alone knows the way. If we are walking 
uprightly with Him, we must not judge of God's 
guiding by the amount of natural satisfaction 
we receive in following it. He leads by paths 
we know not ; and the lack of strength in His 
followers is generally from undue reasoning, and 
from judging before the time. It amounts to 
this : " Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever 
Thou goest." An unconditional surrender in 
words ; but when the Lord goes before us, and 
we find ourselves in some barren desert, or 
some lonely city dwelling (for it is in the 
multitude, that the child of God feels most 
lonely), then we say, " We asked the Lord to 
guide, and w T e have taken our own way." " Why 



38 THE SECRET OF THE LOUD. 

are ye fearful? how is it that ye have no 
faith?" still sounds around our way, which wc 
tread like frightened children. 

Those who believe must not make haste. 
There is a purpose, and a time for every pur- 
pose. " He that observeth the wind shall not 
sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not 
reap." If the believer is taken up with the 
providences of God, and not with God Himself, 
he will always be in uncertainty and per- 
plexity ; for who can understand his own ways, — 
much more the ways of Him who holds creation 
in His grasp? For "it is not in man that 
walketh to direct his steps." 

A service is appointed us, like some point 
of land we are to reach through long travel ; 
but before we reach that point which looms in 
the distance, we have hills, and valleys, and 
dreary paths, to tread. We know not what 
awaits us at the end ; but we may be prepared 
for it in the experiences of the journey. Paul 
knew he "must see Eome;" but his loving 
friends did not foresee how little the "pros- 
perous" journey would resemble what they 
would have desired for him. One of the buds 



WALKING WITH GOD. 39 

of promise in the crown of his espousals was, 
that he should suffer many things for the Master 
he was prepared to serve. 

To walk with God you must become as a 
little child. You must be content to be counted 
a fool for Christ's sake. And truly you will 
have to walk very much alone. Some may say, 
"These men are full of new wine;" or, like the 
enemies of our heavenly Master, " Thou hast a 
devil, and art mad;" but "wisdom is justified 
of all her children." "It is enough for the dis- 
ciple that he be as his Master, and the servant 
as his lord. If they have called the master of 
the house Beelzebub, how much more shall 
they call them of. His household ? Fear them 
not therefore." (Matt. x. 25, 26.) 

Are you willing to be despised for Christ's 
sake? You may be learned in prophecy, or 
otherwise instructed in the letter of the Word, 
and receive honour from man ; but if you will 
live godly in Christ Jesus, you shall suffer per- 
secution. God Himself hath said it. 

If we look around at the busy workers, we 
should say that Christians were triumphantly 
carried over the persecution promised. But 



40 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

where are the peace and the power which 
should flow to Christians from communion with 
the heavenly Father ? Nay, some are so busy 
keeping others' vineyards, that their own vine- 
yard they have not kept. 

Fellowship with God must spring from the 
simple faith of the little child; and this lan- 
guishes if, instead of seeking His face, we are 
so occupied about His business, and engrossed 
with those around us, that we can only bring 
_to Him the wearied energies and the drooping 
spirit. No loving husband would be satisfied 
with such a return of affection; and though 
others might admire the zeal and activity of 
the busy wife, he would miss the companion of 
his life. 

There is a certain stereotyped character dis- 
cernible in the members of a body or sect 
gathered under some favourite minister; they 
reflect his views and opinions, and also his 
defects. 

The truths which have been burnt into his 
heart, line upon line, in the furnace fires, often 
find a ready utterance from those who know 
nothing of them experimentally. Hearers and 



WALKING WITH GOD. 41 

admirers adopt them, and thence the appear- 
ance of rapid advance in the divine life, followed 
by apparent backsliding. This is often nothing 
more than a return to their former position. 
Truths, rendered attractive by their novelty, 
have been received externally, while their 
vitality has remained unknown; like children's 
gardens filled with gathered blossoms that have 
no root, and so wither away. There are no 
defects in the Great Teacher; therefore, while 
the full value of pastors and ministers who 
are filled with the Holy Spirit is admitted, it 
must remain true that those who live in the 
society of the Beloved shall realize most of 
His beauty, and reflect most of His image. 

Not for this will you be loved of the world. 
You will realize what the Lord Jesus promised 
— " persecution ; " and you will become an 
enigma to your brethren: "Neither did His 
brethren believe in Him." 

A poor unlettered man said to me one day, 
"Every believer needs to be confident that a 
supernatural power dwells within him ; it is 
this which makes the difference between him 
and the world." Truly this is walking as 



42 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

children of the kingdom : this confidence in- 
vests them with power in their weakness ; for 
God hath said, " All things are yours." With 
Him we overcome ; in Him we have peace. 
We lack the fulfilment of these blessed pro- 
mises when we do not walk with God. 

Many saved souls know of this doctrine, but 
fail in the simple faith by which it is enjoyed. 
The Incarnate Word is that which God has 
given to nourish us — the daily bread from 
heaven. 

Why is it that ordinances become wearisome, 
and work in its routine a burden ? It is that 
Jesus is not carried into the changing events of 
every-day life. But when " Jesus only " is all 
our salvation, and all our desire, then each 
hour is a page of deepening interest in the 
book of life. But if He is sought only at set 
times, or in ordinances, is it any marvel that 
the soul lacks appetite, and loathes the " light 
food," and thus becomes discouraged at the 
feeble realization of heavenly things ? 

Murmur not if friends fail you. The Lord 
knows you by name. " Can two walk together 
except they be agreed?" If one knows only 



WALKING WITH GOD. 43 

the letter, and the other seeks the Spirit, pro- 
bably he who knows only the letter will to 
the outward appearance outrun him who is led 
of the Spirit. Nevertheless, the promise is not 
to him that runneth. (Psa. cxlvii. 10 ; Isa. xxx. 
15, 16.) 

If you are seeking help from many coun- 
sellors, you will fail to learn the immediate 
ministration of the mighty Counsellor. If you 
look for sympathy from many comforters, you 
will miss the comfort of the endearing rela- 
tionship of the everlasting Father. (Isa. lxvi. 
13.) The day is at hand when the tears shall 
be wiped away from all faces. But the recol- 
lection of this burden of grief shared with the 
Man Christ Jesus : — those hours of darkness 
during which you waited at His feet for His 
voice of love ; that hard speech and bitter taunt 
that sent you to cast your wounded heart before 
Him for His healing touch ; those silent hours 
when you sought for guidance, and received 
special counsel to guide and help, — waiting 
times, but not idle hours, for they were spent 
with Him who is our wisdom : — these seasons 
will be among your heavenly treasures. 



44 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

Such remembrances even in this life shed a 
glory over the roughest billow; and hereafter, if 
not now, we shall see that we have walked the 
waters with Him, and our loss shall be all gain 
in our fellowship with Jesus. 

Thy hand controls the howling storm, 

Thy foot is on the sea ; 
How can I tread the waters, Lord, 

Unless I walk with Thee. 



LEANING ON JESUS. 45 



CHAPTEE III. 

LEANING ON JESTS. 

" Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." 
John xv. 14. 

^27^ HE disciple whom Jesus loved leant 
upon His bosom. Dear reader, where 
; are you ? It is John to whom Peter 
v^ addresses his question ; it is to the lov- 
^ ing one reposing in confidence on His 
breast that Jesus answers. It is Mary listening 
at His feet that the Anointed One of God com- 
mends; it is from her hand that He accepts 
the significant offering which remains an ever- 
lasting memorial of her. Did He love these 
disciples more than the others ? Nay ; but they 
apprehended His love to them, and believed 
Him when He said, " He that loveth Me shall 
be loved of my Father, and I will love him, 
and will manifest myself to him." " If a man 
love Me, he will keep my words : and my 
Father will love him, and we will come unto 



46 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

him, and make our abode with him." What- 
ever place in the vineyard the Lord has ap- 
pointed for His disciple, there is no position in 
which he ought not to be, and may not be, found 
leaning on Jesus, and listening to His words. 

The Holy Ghost abides not in temples made 
with hands, neither can He delight in a divided 
heart. The merchandize that crowds the temple 
of your God must be cast out ere room can be 
made for Him. Let not the lowing of oxen 
drown the voice of the Beloved. Plead not 
that oxen are needful, that sheep and pigeons 
are gentle, harmless objects, and that money- 
changing is lawful, and then complain that you 
cannot see Him whom you say your soul loveth. 

If you are in earnest in seeking fellowship 
with the Lord Jesus, go to Him — ask Him to 
drive out the enemy before you. One sight of 
His beauty, and all lighter likings will take 
their appointed place, or disperse as snow- 
wreaths before the sun. Thus the soul, emptied 
of all meaner joys, will understand that it has 
been redeemed with the precious blood of 
Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and 
without spot, that so He may dwell in you and 



LEANING ON JESUS. 47 

walk in you, that you may be His people, and 
that He may be your God. 

When one bereaved of her husband wept by 
the coffin of her only child, she exclaimed, " I 
see God will have my whole heart, and He shall 
have it." Not all that the Spirit was pleading 
within her soul was heard on earth ; but the 
offering was accepted by Him who inspired it : 
her eyes were opened, and she knew His voice, 
and henceforth followed Him. 

It is the heart for which the Lord is often 
contending in His dealings with His people, 
the whole heart ; for it is in proportion as the 
old nature, with its affections and lusts, is 
crucified, that the indwelling of the Holy Ghost 
is manifested. How soon a desire unduly in- 
dulged, or an unholy thought unrestrained, will 
cast its shadow on the spirit ; or idle words or 
foolish jesting break the sweet peace that 
reigned before S How rapidly and unconsciously 
some cherished affection may beget an idol, 
wmich the hand of love must break in pieces. 

For our poor hearts fail to know, 
Where our gourds are growing, 

Till the east wind lays them low, 
And our tears are flowing. 



±8 THE SECKET OF THE LORD. 

A godly pastor, who had been much blessed 
in his ministry, lost the comfort and witness of 
the Holy Spirit. He became consciously strait- 
ened in his preaching, and weary of his work. 
He sought an aged member of his flock, and 
inquired of her if she still received benefit 
from his ministry. 

" I no longer gain anything from your teach- 
ing," replied his honest hearer. 

"The fault may be in yourself,'"' suggested 
the pastor ; " perhaps you have ceased to pray 
for me." 

"Not so," said she; "I pray, but the heavens 
are brass." 

" Nevertheless, pray on," said the sad-hearted 
man, " and I will see you again." 

Accordingly, after a week had gone by, he 
inquired anxiously, "What have you to tell 
me ? was the power of the Spirit felt yesterday 
in my discourse ?" 

" Nay," replied the faithful woman, "it lacked 
unction. Your words were nothing to me." 

"Have you prayed for me?" he continued ; 
for he felt, in the desolation and coldness of 
his heart, how much he needed it. 



LEANING ON JESUS. 49 

"I said before," she answered, "that the 
heavens were brass, when I prayed for you ; 
but this week the Lord says, ' Let him alone ! 
he is joined to his idols, let him alone !'" 

There was silence. Faithful are the wounds 
of a friend. God had spoken. 

The pastor put his hand into his breast, 
and drew forth a miniature suspended there ; 
throwing it on the stone floor, he stamped his 
heel heavily on it, and the ivory picture lay 
scattered in fragments at his feet. It was the 
portrait of his fair young daughter, who had 
been removed by death a few months before. 
Immoderate grief for her loss had hidden from 
him the face of the Master, who thus was 
pleading with him for his whole heart, waiting 
to restore to him the joy of His salvation ; for 
what have we to do any more with idols ? 

From the slavery of sin, from the hard bond- 
age of our own will, the Lord Jesus died to 
deliver us. And yet that unbroken communion 
out of which true service can alone flow seems 
to be desired and sought for too often in ser- 
vice, rather than recognized as the source from 
whence it springs. 



50 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 






The works of nature are types of those of 
grace : day and night, summer and winter, 
seed-time and harvest, shadow forth the soul's 
progress. 

Even were we living above our besetting sin 
of unbelief, yet the fellowship of the Lord Jesus 
nowhere promises exemptiom from tribulation; 
for the trial of our faith is much more precious 
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried 
by fire. Fiery trials are no strange things to 
the Lord's followers. The rejoicing in them is 
not of the old nature, but is born of the Holy 
Spirit ; and that joy looks beyond the fellow- 
ship of suffering, "that when His glory shall 
be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceed- 
ing joy." 

Many timid followers of the Lord, with 
broken health and shattered nerves, add to 
their own sorrows the often-recurring thought 
that they have grievously departed from God. 
They have lost some of the comforts which 
they enjoyed in other days, and thus they 
think it was better with them then than now. 
The overtaxed brain, the jaded mind, and 
weary body, cannot respond to the joy that 



LEANING ON JESUS. 51 

once thrilled their souls at thoughts of the 
Lord's gracious dealings with them. 

Distrust not His love, thou tried and tempted 
one. Jesus is the same. Thy heart is resting 
on Him, or it would not grieve over its own 
airworthiness, and that it can no longer offer 
the glad sacrifice of praise. Christ is all, all 
that you cannot be, and He is thy praise. 
Tear not! His thoughts are "thoughts of 
peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected 
end." Another thorn in the chaplet will make 
heaven the sweeter : soon shall the thorns be 
exchanged for a crown of glory. Another nail 
in the flesh will make the cross lighter, and the 
sight of Him thou lovest shall make amends 
for all. 

The shadow that sin casts becomes more and 
more oppressive. And even when repented of, 
the face of the Lord may not be seen, and a 
sense of spiritual desertion may be permitted, as 
well as any other chastening, that the soul may 
take heed to her ways. The closer the com- 
munion that may have subsisted, the keener 
will be the suffering of any departure. " I 
opened to my Beloved ; but my Beloved had 



52 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

withdrawn Himself, and was gone : my soul 
failed when He spake : I sought Him, but I 
could not find Him ; I called Him, but He 
gave me no answer." (Song of Solomon v. 6.) 

To retain unbroken communion we need the 
constant remembrance of the blood which 
cleanseth ; otherwise, when the spiritual sight 
becomes clearer, the heart will be dismayed at 
the often-recurring view of the cage of unclean 
birds within us. When the river lies calm in 
the summer sunlight, it reflects, as in a mirror, 
the banks that overhang it, and the blue sky 
above; but cast a pebble into the water and 
disturb its repose, let a whirlwind sweep over 
it, or a boat cross its surface, then the serene 
reflection of the heavens is broken into fitful 
gleams, or altogether obscured. The sky is 
really as fair as ever, but peace must reign 
upon the troubled waters before that sky can 
be reflected in them. 

We know how light a cloud w T ill mar our 
peace. Then how can it be beneath the majesty 
of the Most High to take cognizance of the 
minutest temporal affair of His beloved ones ? 
There is none too small for the Infinite to guide 



LEANING ON JESUS. 53 

and rule, and it is, in fact, broad infidelity to 
doubt it. 

I had lately arrived at , and was ac- 
companying a lady for a drive. I was struck 
with the beauty of the downs, and remarked 
that the church was being rebuilt, and that 
there was no place of meeting for the people 
without a long walk. I said, " Oh, how I 
wish my lot had been cast here ! How I 
should have loved to visit the cottages." How- 
ever, I was far from them. 

I was very comfortable in my cottage lodg- 
ing, until a man who had a room in it began 
to smoke. This affected my heart, and brought 
on fainting. I sent to ask him to desist, but 
he rudely refused. I did not like leaving my 
pleasant summer cot, where I had expected to 
remain many months. I prayed to be directed ; 
for I strove to endure the sickness, and thought 
I should perhaps become accustomed to the 
annoyance. At last, I asked the Lord to lead 
the man to give up smoking, or to keep me 
from suffering. If not ; then, as I was fast losing 
all power of moving, to let me see whether it 
was His will that I should depart. 



54 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

The following day the smoke was worse, 
and I fainted. For some days I could do, 
walk. I had no friend in the place that I 
could ask to seek for a lodging, and one I must 
have at once. So I sent for my old chairman 
to enquire, and went out, praying the Lord to 
put into the mind of the chairman the house 
He wished to me occupy. The man said, 
Yes, he knew some lodgings, " very beautiful 
ones," in the centre of the town. I told him 
the town would not suit me. So he w r ent on 
very sulky for a time, and I very dark and 
unhappy. At last I said to myself, " What a 
hypocrite I am ! I ask the Lord where He 
wants me, and pray Him to put it into the 
mind of the man, and when told, I say, 'II 
does not suit me!'" 

When my mind had reached this conclusion, 
and he/ore I could speak, the chairman stopped 
and said, "I wish, ma'am, you would let me 
take you to see the lodgings." I now answered 
him, " Certainly." He quickened his pace; and 
when he stopped I found myself in a gloomy 
street, before a fine old house that in former 
days had stood alone. A suite of many spacious 



LEANING ON JESUS. 55 

rooms were offered me at a proportionately high 
rent. 

I told the person they were not suitable 
either in situation or price. 

She said, " Would you object to a house in 
the country, about a mile on the other side of 
the town?" I answered, it was exactly what 
I should like. 

The girl said, "That is very singular. We 
have a cousin just come in, who asked us to 
speak of her to a lady. She has a large plea- 
sant cottage, and a good servant; do see 
her." 

I saw her. She begged me to go and look at 
the apartments. The chairman was ready to 
take me anywhere. The evening was beautiful, 
and I arrived at the cottage long before the 
mistress. 1 found a large delightful upper 
room, with bay-window, and a charming bed- 
room, in great order and cleanliness. I engaged 
them of the servant, and returned home glori- 
fying God! The following morning I took 
possession of my new tent, and again my 
health was restored in a few days to its former 
state. 



56 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

The glory of the harvest set in; it was a 
month of golden beauty. One morning at ten 
o'clock I set off, with my books and tracts, 
into the harvest fields. I threaded a long, 
shady lane, turning into the fields where I saw 
the labourers, and about noon found myself, 
at a bend of the road, in a plain — this same 
plain where I had longed to work among the 
cottages ! I sat down and almost wept with 
joy. Did I not go on ? No ; I had my service 
close at hand. It was enough for to-day to 
praise. 

Nearly every morning I set forth. Every- 
where doors opened, and glad welcomes greeted 
me. 

One morning the strongest inclination seized 
me to go to the town for some purchases that 
seemed indispensable, though I had prayed 
much to be helped on the plain. I am assured 
it was a device of Satan ; for it was only in the 
clear blaze of this hot sun that I had strength 
to walk or speak. I waited when I began to 
suspect the enemy, and felt it was better to be 
still and do nothing, than do wrong. 

At last it came clearly that my way was to 



" LEANING ON JESUS. 57 

the harvest field. The conflict had made me 
later in leaving, so that it was nearly noon 
before I had gone through the field and entered 
the plain. I was growing very weary, and 
looked out for a cottage where I could, perhaps, 
procure some milk. I was at a loss whither to 
bend my steps, when I saw, on a bank near, 
a girl knitting. On inquiry, she told me that 
a little further on there were two paths, and 
if I took the one to the left, it would lead me 
to a dairyman's. I was hoping the girl would 
have accompanied me, for the direction was 
vague. I was weary, and the heat was exces- 
sive ; but she was sullen, and would scarcely 
give me an answer, and refused any further 
information. 

There were many roads, and I could not see 
any house near ; but on crossing a field, two 
paths diverged, and in the shelter of an or- 
chard I saw the chimneys of two cottages. I 
hastened down a path before I remembered 
that I had not asked the Lord to direct me, 
but immediately retraced my steps, and asked 
His Spirit's guidance, and found myself in the 
same direction. 



58 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

I am minute in these particulars, because I 
learnt a lesson practically, that in no other way, 
I think, is taught so as to be useful. 

At the end of this path was a wicket gate. 
I was crossing an old-fashioned garden, when I 
met a young woman. I told her I wanted to 
find the cow -keeper's, that I might procure 
some milk, and I believed that was the cot- 
tage. 

God only knows what a trial of faith it 
was when she told me the other was the cow- 
keeper's. The trial was, not my exhaustion, 
but in suspecting that I had after all walked 
according to nature, and not by the Spirit. She 
saw that my countenance fell, and pointed out 
the road very kindly. I had a little book, and 
I felt I must give it her, though I had kept 
it for whoever gave me the milk, as I had no 
money with me. I turned, with sorrow in my 
heart, to retrace my steps once more, when the 
girl hastily followed me, saying, if I would go 
through their homestead I could reach the 
cow-keeper's in half the time. Again I turned 
back, and went through a court that opened 
into the dairy. I made known my request, 



LEANING ON JESUS. 59 

and was rudely refused ; and wondering in my 
heart what it all meant, I left the cow-keeper'?, 
purposing to rest on the wayside until I could 
get back to my lodgings. faithless heart ! 
the Lord was working, and I could not trust 
Him. 

The young woman was leaning on the wicket 
gate, evidently watching for me, and accosted 
me as I bent my head in passing. 

She said, with some hesitation, " My mother, 
ma'am, has been watching you from the win- 
dow. She said to me, 'Mary, that lady looks 
very ill and tired. Go out and ask her if she 
will rest, and let us offer her what refreshment 
we have." 

My heart was full. I knew the Lord had 
gone before me. I entered that clean, cool 
cottage, with feelings which those only can 
understand who take rest, and food, and wel- 
come, from the Lord God. 

It was the brightest cottage I ever entered. 
The brass and copper that hung over the large 
open fireplace, the white w r alls, the bright case- 
ment overhung with honeysuckles, the snowy 
curtain, the polished chairs, and the sheltering 



60 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

trees over the roof, made it a sweet rest to 
the weary pilgrim in the heat of a September 
noon. 

A pale-faced woman, old-fashioned in appear- 
ance and gentle in her manners, had already 
spread a clean cloth on a table, and was pre- 
paring a meal. Home-made bread and cheese 
were placed before me, and as I sat down, 
mother and daughter stood by. The blessing 
was a very long one for a " grace before meat," 
but my hosts stood in silent reverence while I 
asked a blessing on their home. The face of 
the mother was bathed in tears ; the daughter 
never took her eyes from my face. Oh, my 
sweet, sweet Lord ! what a welcome He gave 
me there ! So I ate of their food, and rested 
quietly; for with genuine hospitality to a weary 
traveller they left me alone. 

After a time the daughter returned and 
removed the table ; and, strengthened and re- 
freshed, I spoke of my beloved Master. The 
mother wept silently. Then addressing the 
daughter, I pleaded with her for Jesus. She 
listened attentively, and asked me a question 
or two that showed an unquiet mind. The 



LEANING ON JESUS. 61 

afternoon had gone before I could leave them. 

Then the woman rose, saying, 

« God has sent you. Oh, how my husband 

would love to speak -to you! He is one who 

loves your Lord." 

"And you?" I inquired. 

"Yes," she said sadly; "but I have lived a 

long way from Him, though knowing Him. 

But 5 you have done me good. Will you come 

some day when my husband is at home?" 
I found that he was only at home in the 

evening, so*I felt it was not possible, as I could 

not walk in the evening ; but I promised to go 

again if the Lord would send me. 

Accordingly, in the middle of the following 

week, I went. The mother was alone. She 

greeted me with such joy, that at first she could 
hardly speak. She said the words I had been 
led to speak to her daughter had been greatly 
blessed, and her own soul had been revived. 
Her husband longed to see me ; but it was in 
the busy harvest season, so we saw no prospect 
of that. I called several times, and as 1. went 
to and fro my heart sang songs of joy. Jesus 
walked with me. 



62 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

One day I was detained on the road so late 
that it was afternoon before I reached the cot- 
tage. I knocked at the open door, and then 
entered. There I saw a harvest labourer. 

" This is our lady, John," was my introduc- 
tion; and there was no necessity to ask who 
he was, for they had told me that he loved my 
Lord. And if God ever sealed the face of one 
of His own in this mortal flesh, the seal was 
on the face of this son. of toil. 

The heat of the day had been intense, and 
he had returned home to take his meal, and 
rest till eve. Truly he was taught of God. I 
had blessed communion with him. Jesus was 
indeed there, and I traced His love in giving me 
full measure, pressed down and running over, 
from the fountain of His fulness that day. 

As I rose to leave, after praying together, he 
sat a few minutes silently ; then rising, he came 
towards me, and taking my hand in both of his 
own, he bowed over it like any old courtier, and 
the blessing he breathed fell on my soul like 
dew from heaven. The tears were in his eyes. 
I have seldom seen such an expression — never 
above once or twice in my life. 



LEANING ON JESUS. 63 

"If we never meet again, madam, on this 
earth, I look for you before the Lamb slain, in 
heaven's glory." So we parted, all hoping to 
have another meeting here. But when I re- 
turned to my lodgings a letter awaited me, 
which took me away at once. I never saw 
them again. 

In several of the other cottages I had deeply 
interesting interviews, and in more than one I 
found some of the Lord's precious jewels. The 
wife of one of the labourers said that all 
through the winter her husband rose at four 
o'clock for an hour's prayer and reading the 
Bible, before he went out to his day's work. 
She herself went out washing. She slept 
heavily, and could not wake sometimes, so 
weary was she with her day's work. Her hus- 
band would rise so quietly as not to disturb 
her, and when she opened her eyes, there he 
was, with the little candle no larger than a 
rushlight, seeking in his Bible for his daily 
food. He laboured in the field from five to 
five, and their garden was tended by him, and 
was fruitful and in good order. 

I felt drawn to enter a hut, at the end of a 



64 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

Long narrow slip of garden. I knocked in 
vain, and at last gently lifted the latch and 
went in. There sat an aged woman, bent over 
a lire of withered branches and dead fern, 
which burned brightly on the open hearth. 
The room, was narrow (like the garden), a 
casement under a deep eave, and the fire at 
the extremity of the chamber. The poor old 
woman looked forlorn. At first she was very 
hard and sharp in her answers; but I have 
often to remember that broken glass will cut 
the finger with the least touch, and broken 
hearts without the sanctifying grace of God 
will do the same. 

I asked her to let me rest ; she consented. 
She was in trouble for a sailor son, of whom 
she had not heard for very long. "He was such 
a good son — she had only him." Then she 
took down the little pictures on the wall, views 
of Constantinople and the coasts of the Medi- 
terranean, saying, he always used to send her 
these little tokens at every fresh voyage ; now 
she never heard from him. 

I spoke to her of Him who holds the waters 
in the hollow of His hand, and told her in 



LEANING ON JESUS. 65 

whom my own soul was rejoicing ; and then I 
pointed her to Him whose eye was on her son 
in a distant land, and on her weeping by her 
little fire. I knelt by her, and prayed for the 
absent son. The poor woman looked on amazed, 
but listened. My prayer over, I was leaving. 
She looked at me and merely asked, " Who are 
ye?" as if frightened. I never saw her again. 
I can only believe my Lord sent me, and that 
He heard me. 

I bless God that He gave me special grace 
at this season to follovj Him. I was content 
to sit in the sunshine, when He showed me 
that I should be silent, though that was often 
the hardest work. The Lord of the harvest 
will watch over the seed ; and certain it is He 
accepts the willing mind in obedient service. 
Not one grain of the harvest will be lost, and 
not one effort to please Him will pass un- 
noticed. For He is the centre from which 
love and service spring. Just in proportion as 
the soul is in fellowship with the Lord Jesus, 
in communion with His will, shall we trace 
His leadings, hear His voice, and " understand 
in part" what we shall soon read in the light 
F 



06 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

of His unveiled face. Were it not for m; 
many and repeated failures in obedience, my 
faithlessness, and my sinful yielding to my 
self-will, glorious things would be spoken o: 
my Lord and my God. 



FELLOWSHIP. 67 



CHAPTEE IY. 



FELLOWSHIP. 



J Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without waver- 
ing ; for He is faithful that promised." — Heb. x. 23. 

QtjJgkANY are in bondage in regard to 

nJ mj I V fellowship. Natural joy has been 

^Vj^^ mistaken for communion, when the 

j$2? feet were not walking in the path of 

j the Lord; while in another cace, the 

joy in the Lord may still be there, even when 

the lips can only moan their sorrow. Did not 

Jesus say, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, 

even unto death" — "If it be possible, let this 

cup pass from Me"? And shall we not have 

fellowship with the Man of Sorrows ? Has He 

not cried, " Why hast thou forsaken Me ? " 

And will He not be very near to us, if the 

same cry has gone up from the torn and 

tempted heart of one whom He loves ? 



68 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

The bulwark of the believer's hope is the 
faithfulness of Him who has called him. When, 
through our unbelief, we miss the sight of the 
King in His beauty, let us not follow the 
w T atchmen with our clamorous grief; let us 
not cry to the daughters of Jerusalem to tell 
Him our desolation; let us go direct to Him- 
self, that He may teach us to profit, and lead 
us jm the way that we should go. If the con- 
sciousness of the love He bears us is blotted^ 
by our unfaithfulness, let us to the stronghold 
of His covenant. He is not changed ; He 
loves us with an everlasting love. 

Up, mourning soul ! though shadows round thee hover ; 
Up to the stronghold ! Christ's own might is thine. 
Doth danger threaten ? Lo ! His wings shall cover, 
And thou shalt say, " Behold, His strength is mine !" 
In the sweet radiance of His presence sun thee, 
When faithless hearts and harsh words wound thee sore ; 
Lean on that loving breast whose blood hath won thee 
The right to rest there now — and evermore. 

Again: the heart may be so absorbed with 
its own natural depravity as to lose sight of the 
fact, that it was for sinners by nature the Lamb 
of God gave up His sinless life. He died that 



FELLOWSHIP. 69 

in Him we should be more than conquerors. 
He lives to cleanse and heal. "Though ye have 
lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings 
of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers 
with yellow gold." 

Your outgoings and incomings, your trials 
and temptations, your sorrows and struggles, 
your hopes and fears, each secret service, and 
the sacrifice none else takes knowledge of, are 
more important in His eyes than in your own. 
Xo care that causes you one throb of pain is 
insignificant to Him, nor one joy puerile that 
you would share with Him. If we forget this, 
the loss is ours. He remains the same. And 
that we do forget it — forget Him in mere ex- 
ternal labour, or lose sight of Him in careless 
slumber and disobedience — my often sorrowing 
heart knows too well. 

Yet it is to His perfection we must look for 
peace, and not on our uncomeliness. We can- 
not make ourselves fair. He has made us 
fellow-heirs with Himself in the kingdom of 
the Father, and He has called us "all fair" in 
His sight. We are accepted in the Beloved. 
"He loves me!" To realize this is life, and 



70 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

power, and rest. Love to Him who first loved 
us is the secret of the holy life. 

But those who walk with Jesus know it is 
not always thus. There are lonely hours when 
He is not seen of the mourning soul. One who 
has never known the blessing of sight cannot 
comprehend the desolation of sudden blind- 
ness. " Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant 
thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." 
Yet even the shadows are caused by the sun, 
and are an evidence of His presence. Great 
is the loss of the sweet face of nature, or of the 
countenance of the best loved on earth; but 
what comparison does this bear to the darkness 
that hides the face of the Beloved? There is 
no comparison to it but a realization of hell, 
from which we are delivered by the Blessed 
One whom this shadow shrouds. Bewildered 
by our loss, and the memory of the wilful way, 
the disobedient or careless walk, we forget that 
sin has done the work that sin must ever do, 
and blotted out the consciousness of the eternal 
love of God, but not that love itself. 

Satan will suggest that we have now for- 
feited the favour of Him whom we have called 



FELLOWSHIP. 71 

"Abba;" that never more will He condescend 
to use so vile an instrument for testimony or 
service. Blessed be God ! our great High "Priest 
ever liveth to make intercession for us. Hush ■ 
He will not cast off. Keep silence before Him, 
and hear what the Lord saith : " Behold my 
hands and my feet !" . 

But there is another sense in which we feel 
deserted. A change of experience in the soid, 
wrought by the power of the Spirit, and not by 
the will of man, should be carefully examined 
in His light. The watchfulness which it de- 
mands may cause the exercised soul to consider 
her ways, and perhaps warn her from the net 
of the fowler, or deliver her from the snare. 
Mental afflictions are not sins, neither are 
temptations. Of the one He can heal us, and 
from the other deliver us. Desolation of spirit 
does not always spring from grieving the Holy 
Ghost; nor do I hold it as a mark of dis- 
pleasure from the Lord, more than any other 
chastening, sickness, bereavement, etc., though 
it is the most severe to bear ; but it is discipline 
always, and calls for self -searching and self- 
judgment. Those who live far off from God 



72 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

know nothing of such darkness, and those who 
enjoy most continually His presence feel the 
withdrawal of it most acutely. 

Nor do I think that all are called to the 
same participation in the sufferings of Christ, 
"Wherefore, let them that suffer according to 
the will of God commit the keeping of their 
souls to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful 
Creator." (1 Peter iv. 19.) To feel the heart's 
warmest emotions called forth in fervid utter- 
ance is a swift return for seeking the mercy- 
seat; but if we sought His face only for the 
joy it gives us, it might lead us at last to follow 
Him, like the multitude, for the loaves and 
fishes. Prayer is still prayer ; and though it is 
barren and cold in comparison to your desire, 
it is as real, and reaches heaven as surely, as if 
it were rich in fervour and eloquence. 

I believe also that there is a certain deso- 
lation of soul, which is the answer to prayer 
for humility and deeper conformity to the 
Lord, with whom we desire to walk more 
closely. It is sent to arouse us to increased 
watchfulness, and to awaken us to cry for 
fresh supplies of grace. It is experimental 



FELLOWSHIP. 7 3 

instruction in the ways of Gocl ; and intended 
to bring us into fuller sympathy with Christ's 
suffering members among whom He may design 
us to minister. 

It will be understood that I am not dealing 
here with depression resulting from sin in- 
dulged or sin unrepented of; nor of failure 
through ignorance or temptation; but that 
spiritual drought and sorrowful depression 
which some of His faithful followers are called 
to suffer by the will of God. 

It may be that it is permitted in order to 
give us an errand to the throne; and ; to the 
soul that lives in communion, that errand must 
be to bring a blessing. I cannot remember 
many occasions, since I have been led to seek 
for treasures in darkness, in which I have 
not found some precious view of Christ's suffi- 
ciency for which I had to praise Him. One I 
record. 

# A day of special nearness and enjoyment in 
the Lord was followed by much such a trial 
as I have touched on. A cloud overshadowed 
my spirit. My heart, that so late had been 
absorbed in thoughts of Him I loved, and of 



74 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

service I desired for His sake, was now cold 
and dead. And yet I cannot say that I felt 
myself deserted; but as one left suddenly in 
darkness in a room before filled with golden 
sunlight. The room is the same, the furniture 1 
is not displaced ; but though the windows may 
be open, the shutters are closed, and the lovely 
prospect in which we delighted is hidden. The \ 
Bible is still the Word of God; but it seems to 
have become a sealed book. The promises are 
ours ; but we cannot enjoy them. The eternal 
glory is ours; but we can no longer rejoice in 
the thought of our portion. Christ is faithful 
still; but we cannot realize Him. We may 
grasp His robe, and He knows who has touched 
Him, and how it is with them ; but we feel not 
the garment we grasp. 

This day I often inquired, "Why is it thus 
with me?" I sat before the Lord that He 
might show me. The darkest hour of mid- 
night heralded the dawn of His appearing " in 
another form." 

It was impressed upon my mind in these 
sad hours, that by watching I should again 
see Jesus. So in my trouble I watched for 



FELLOWSHIP. ( 

the star that should rise upon my darkness, 
and point me to the object of my search. 

From early dawn until evening I looked for 
my Lord to come and gladden my solitary 
soul. The sun went down, but the Sun of 
Eighteousness had not arisen for me with 
healing in His wings. For " it was now dark, 
and Jesus had not come" unto me. 

The cottage in which I then sojourned was 
in a very retired part of the country. It was 
situated in a lane, shadowed by elms, then 
almost bereft of their autumnal foliage, and by 
groups of lofty pine. Few passengers went by, 
as it was out of the high road, bounded on one 
side by the fields, and on the other by my 
garden. 

Thankful was I this day that I was alone; 
for I was sweeping the chambers of my heart 
for my lost treasure, and longed for a messenger 
of the Most High to bring me some word from 
Him ; but none came. I read ; but the Scrip- 
tures, through which my Lord had so often 
spoken sweet words of consolation and guid- 
ance, were silent. 

Late in the evening my servant had gone tc 



70 THE SECltET OF THE LORD. 

visit a sick person in the neighbourhood, and 
I sat alone in the house, watching the shadows 
deepen into night, and my sinking heart still 
saying, " Why is it thus with me ?" The deep 
stillness was broken by a loud hurried knock 
at the outer door. At another time I think 
my natural fears would have caused me to 
tarry ; but I rose without hesitation ; for I had 
lost the light of my life, and all else seemed 
as nothing. Before I could reach the door, the 
knock was repeated more vehemently. I in- 
quired who was there, and was answered by a 
stranger's voice, begging to see the lady who 
lived there. She did not know my name, but 
had heard of me as an unworthy disciple of 
my gracious Lord. 

I opened the door, and, hastily lighting a 
candle, led the way into the drawing room. 
The broken accents, and the anguish on the 
face of the stranger, won at once my tenderest 
sympathy. It was a painful case, to which I 
listened with intense interest, and long before 
she came to a close, my heart had taken up the 
burden of my sorrowful visitor. She was a 
Christian. Seven years before she had fallen 



FELLOWSHIP. 

into the snare of contracting 
with a man of the world. From year to year 
she had delayed ratifying it, hoping, as she told 
me, that his soul would have been given to her 
prayers. But it is not thus that the Lord meets 
His children's disobedience. He was outwardly 
moral in his life; he was willing to forego 
anything she disapproved, and observe any 
outward forms, to win her for his wife ; but he 
had no desire or intention to change masters, 
or to exchange the slavery of Satan for the 
freedom of the service of God — that Lord 
whom still his betrothed loved, though she had 
followed Him afar off, in ignorance of that 
divine command so clearly written for our 
warning in 2 Cor. vi. 14-17: "Be ye not 
unequally yoked together with unbelievers : 
for what fellowship hath righteousness with 
unrighteousness ? and what communion hath 
light with darkness ? and what concord hath 
Christ with Belial ? or what part hath he that 
believeth with an infidel? .... Wherefore 
come out from among them, and be ye sepa- 
rate, saith the Lord." 

The day had arrived when, knowing her 



78 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

responsibility by a clearer knowledge of the 
truth as it is in Jesus, she must either contract 
"this unhallowed marriage," as she termed it, 
or part with him she confessed to love better 
than life, better tnan all but Christ. The 
anguish that convulsed her whole body, and the 
misery depicted in her countenance w r hile this 
struggle went on, were like the wrestle with 
the powers of evil. And never had I such an 
experimental teaching of 1 Sam. vii.* I also 
this day set up a way-mark of my pilgrimage. 

There w^as no time to be lost. 

"You must give him up. It must be done," 
I said, as I gently drew her to her knees by 
my side. 

* " Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If 
ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put 
away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and 
prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve Him only;, 
and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. 
Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ash- 
taroth, and served the Lord only. . . . And as Samuel was 
offering up the "burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to 
"battle against Israel ; hut the Lord thundered with a great 
thunder on that day upon tho Philistines, and discomfited 
them ; and they were smitten "before Israel. And the cities 
which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to 
Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the coasts thereof 
did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines." 



FELLOWSHIP. 79 

"But it will break my heart," she said de- 
spairingly, as she wrung her hands in the bitter- 
ness of her sorrow. 

" Not so ; Jesus is able to deliver you, if you 
only believe. He will comfort you. We will 
ask Him." 

She did believe, and she was strengthened. 
She rose from her knees with that same blessed 
peace stealing over her which must have calmed 
the fearful hearts of the disciples when, at the 
fourth watch of the night, the voice of Jesus 
floated over the billows, "It is I; be not afraid." 
In the power of the Spirit she had cast her 
idol from her, and, broken-hearted at the feet 
of Jesus, had strength given her to leave all 
and follow Him. 

The blessing that fell from the lips of my 
visitor as w T e parted descended like dew upon 
my heart. Coidd she divine how the same gra- 
cious Deliverer had used her sorrows for my 
consolation? When I had closed the outer 
door upon her, and returned to that room, the 
scene of much searching of heart and watch- 
ing, and so lately of the wondrous power of 
the Lord mighty in battle, I was to prove yet 



80 THE SECRET OF THE LOUD. 

more marvellously the faithfulness of Him who 
has never said " Seek ye my face" in vain. 

I can only compare it to the sweet welcome 
of a beloved friend awaiting me. In the depth 
of my soul rang that voice that was never 
imitated : " I was a stranger and ye took Me 
in." The flood of joy that filled my whole 
being, spreading like the glory of day over the 
night of weeping, left me praising Him who so 
often has said to me, " Could ye not w ? atch with 
me one hour?" 

A word concerning my God-sent visitor. From 
that evening she grew in grace and in the know- 
ledge of the Lord. The snare was broken, and 
she was delivered. Gracious was the Lord in 
His dealings with her — leading her, strength- 
ening her, teaching her. From time to time I 
have been permitted to trace His wondrous work 
in her. She is now far distant from me. Love 
and gratitude to the instrument used by the 
Lord breathe in all her letters to me, though 
years have gone by. The praise with which she 
constantly records new blessings that owe their 
birth to that "memorable night" sends me to 
the feet of my beloved Lord, who alone knows 



FELLOWSHIP. 81 

the weak and worthless witness of His grace. 
She constantly impresses on me the necessity 
of reminding yonng Christians of that wily 
snare of Satan to entrap the unwary — the hope 
of winning a soul. We have no claim for 
protection and blessing in a self-constituted 
service in the path of wilful disobedience. I 
use her own words : 

" One hour I was raised up to the third 
heaven, believing that my lover was converted, 
so much pains did he take to deceive me ; the 
next day I was dashed to earth by the dis- 
covery of his false pretences. But he was 
dearer to me than life itself. Alone as I was, 
I could never have broken the tie that united 
me to him. It was then, even then, at the 
eleventh hour, that the Lord in His grace and 
mercy sent His dear servant to meet His poor 
wanderer, and by that grace and might gave 
her the power to break the yoke that had 
weighed so long upon the weary one's shoulders. 
May the prayers of that night be for ever 
before the Lord, that night to be remembered 
by angels, and never to be forgotten on earth. 

Not only was I enabled to give up the friend I 
G 



82 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

loved so fondly, but before I rose from my 1 
knees I received strength to renounce him, and ] 
then — to forget him! Never have I had al 
relapse." 

Much, much more I could extract from her 
letters, that proclaims the lovingkindness of] 
the Lord to the upright in heart; but to me] 
they are sacred pages. I never receive them] 
as they follow me in my pilgrimage, but my 
heart is braced for service, although strength 
comes in a different form from that in which 
I expect it, and I exclaim, It is good to wait 
on Thee. " I found Him whom my soul loveth : 
I held Him, and would not let Him go." (Song j 
SoL in. 4.) 



"MY INFIKMITY." 

"Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath He in anger shut up 

His tender mercies ? And I said, This is my infirmity." 

Psalm lxxvii. 9, 10. 

I wept by the misty headland, 

Down by the sea ; 
And none in that hour of anguish 

Stood there by me. 
"Within and without was midnight ; 

Where once had been 
The smile of the Lord who loved me, 

No Lord was seen. 



FELLOWSHIP. 83 

I said, " On this earth's wide bosom 

I walk alone ; 
God hideth His face, I'm forsaken; 

All hope is gone! 
I watch for His hand in the shadows 

That shroud my feet; 
I listen, and nothing I hear, save 

My heart's wild beat. 

" Cold, drear, is my soul, and loveless, 

Hopeless and dead; 
For God has departed for ever," 

Sadly I said. 
" I shall never more bask in His presence, 

Never proclaim, 
"With a song and the voice of thanksgiving, 

Jesu's sweet name. 

" Yet how can I marvel He leaves me, 

Faithless and vain, 
To walk in the light of His favour 

Never again. 
My heart hath forsaken His mercies, 

And mercy is past, 
And my Lord, whom my sins have long wearied, 

Leaves me at last." 

Then, swift as the flash of the lightning 

Passing the sky, 
Came a voice like a dove's in the woodland, 

So tenderly: 
" When father and mother forsake thee, 

Look thou above; 
The Father eternal remembers 

The child of His love. 
g 2 



84 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

" The shadows have gathered around thee, 

Born of the light; 
Had the sun never risen to warm thee, 

Where were thy night ? 
Remember the springs in the desert, 

Arid and drear; 
For thee hath the wilderness blossomed : 

Why dost thou fear? 

" There are treasures beneath the dark waters ; 

Seek thou, and learn : 
Hidden riches in secret places 

Thou must discern. 
And think not He changes or chides thee : 

Comforts decline, 
But Christ made the covenant blessings 

Eternally thine. 

" He gave thee His promise to keep thee: 

Can He deceive ? 
He granted His Word and His Spirit : 

Only believe. 
He sought thee, cast out and forsaken, 

Bidding thee ' Live ! ' 
He gave thee the Son of His bosom: 

More can He give ? " 

Then swift on the purple headland, 

Down by the sea, 
The light that seemed vanished for ever 

Came back to me ; 
And I looked on the Man Christ Jesus 

On God's high throne: 
Forgive me, my Father ! I measured 

Thy love by my own. 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 85 



CHAPTER Y. 

THE WITKESS OF THE SPIRIT. 

" Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they 
shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord." 

Psalm cvii. 43. 

fKEN the apostle said, "I put away- 
childish things," the Holy Spirit did 
not include simple childlike faith in 
^gj our heavenly Father's care as one of 
^ the things to be put away. 
The witness of the Spirit is too little re- 
garded : His power and His presence in the 
Church of God have ceased to be expected 
and recognized in signs and wonders. While 
the fulness of the truth in doctrine has been 
set forth, our absolute dependence on the third 
person of the Godhead for the application of 
that truth to the hearts and consciences of 
men has not been fully recognized. He is 
admitted as an influence for blessing, but not 
always as the One whose prerogative alone it is 



86 THE SECRET OF THE LOED. 

to enlighten the eyes of the understanding, by 
impressing the mind, by guiding the. steps, by 
comforting the heart, and by warning and re- 
proving the conscience. 

The gifts which were once manifested in the 
Church of God are seen only at distant intervals 
and for brief periods. When they are beheld, 
they create such suspicion and amazement, as to 
beget the cry that went out aforetime against 
our blessed Lord: "He deceiveth the peo- 
ple." " Neither did His brethren believe on 
Him." And yet the rivers of living water, 
which were to flow from the hearts of them 
that believed in Jesus, were promised only 
from the Spirit's life-giving power. 

The happiness that burns in the heart of 
those who walk with God here is the foretaste 
of that which they look forward to enjoy in 
its fulness for ever, — to live with Him in un- 
broken fellowship ; to be like Him ; to delight 
in Him in whom the Father delighteth; to 
hear His voice; and to behold the King in 
His beauty; never more for shattered nerve 
and quivering flesh to act as a cloud on the 
perception, or the shadow of sin to obscure the 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 87 

free revelation of Himself. Oh, this is bliss 
unutterable ! And now, even now, with eyes 
and ears so often dull, and heart and feet so 
often failing, is not this the desire born of 
the Spirit in the heart, — to "follow the Lamb 
whithersoever He goeth"? 

And you who read, is this your desire ? 
Then lose not the blessed privilege which He 
has given you of approaching the King at all 
seasons. Assure yourself continually of your 
oneness with Him, and welcome the witness 
of the Holy Spirit in your heart. "And hereby 
we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit 
which He hath given us." (1 John iii. 2-4.) If 
you do this, you will find a speech and lan- 
guage in things otherwise indifferent, but in 
which He delights to reveal Himself to them 
that love Him. "Do not I fill heaven and 
earth ? saith the Lord." (Jer. xxiii. 24.) 

Many a sweet love message will then be 
distinct to your heart, and tokens of His guid- 
ance and tender care will be read in His light ; 
and these oftentimes from sources insignificant 
and contemptible to those who are wise in 
their own estimation. In the presence of the 



88 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

Holy Ghost, in the temple of God, there isi 
nothing common or unclean ; for " God is light, 
and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say 
that we have fellowship with Him, and walk 
in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But 
if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, 
we have fellowship one with another, and the I 
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us j 
from all sin." "As many as are led by the] 
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God ; " and 
He has said, " In all thy ways acknowledge 
Him, and He will direct thy paths." 

The Lord is not acknowledged in all the 
ways of His people, and therefore they remain 
in sad uncertainty whether He does direct 
their paths. It is not to acknowledge Him in 
all our ways, to ask for light upon our path and 
then to neglect the watchfulness needful to 
follow Him in it. We are not to do the Lord's 
work deceitfully (negligently), and when we 
eat the fruit of our own folly to say, "It is 
the Lord." "Thou shalt be perfect [margin, 
upright, sincere] with the Lord thy God." 
(Deut. xviii. 13.) From a lack of the witness 
of the Spirit, they who are thus negligent 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 89 

lose the blessed companionship of a Friend 
who sticketh closer than a brother; One in 
whose wisdom, and faithfulness, and power, 
they may alone continually and safely confide. 
The natural heart would have secrets of its 
own; it would fain, if it could, keep out of 
its counsels the Lord who searcheth it, and 
hide its ways from Him. Fear, and shame, 
and unbelief, clothe the God whose name is 
love with the attributes of vengeance to the 
sinner. The soul rejoicing in salvation rests 
even in tribulation on the faithful love of Him 
whose eyes are over the righteous, and whose 
ears are open to their prayers. Have you been 
tried by oppression and misconception, where 
you thought you had the best right to look for 
kindness and sympathy? Acknowledge Him 
in it, and He will show you that the hearts of 
men can be turned by His Almighty power, 
or used as the means to hedge up your way. 
Christ's love changes not : it is a blessed reality. 
Barter not His precious smile, His sweet com- 
panionship, for any earthly possession. Child of 
God ! communion with the Father and the Son 
is your birthright. 



90 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

There is no uncertainty as to what path the 
Lord has undertaken to direct; for He has 
written, "all thy paths." Not only in the 
dark way, when we are perplexed ; not only I 
when the heart is in heaviness through mani- 1 
fold temptations ; but also when we tarry in 
the pleasant shade of Elira's palm trees, as 
well as by Marah's bitter waters ; yea, all our 
ways He will direct and guide, as every day's 
need requires. 

The holy inspired Word is the revelation of 
Himself to man, from the sacrifice of Abel to 
the unveiling of the glory on Tabor's moun- 
tain, and the forty days' sojourn on earth. 
The world He has created is but one vast 
arena on which He is displayed. " The heavens 
declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
showeth His handiwork." He is seen in the 
earth and the fulness thereof; in the sea and 
all that is therein. Not one form of insect- 
life can be withdrawn without marring the 
great whole ; nor can anything be added to its 
perfection. " He hath made all things beauti- 
ful in their time." 

The ant, the coney, the spider, He uses as 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 91 

our instructors. The raven, the eagle, and the 
dove, are ministers of His. The palmerworm, 
the fly, the frog, the grasshopper, are part of 
His great army, which carries destruction to 
His enemies, and chastening to His people. 
Nor is there anything His hand has formed, 
from Lebanon's cedar to the minutest lichen in 
our own land, which may not in turn become, 
through the power of the Spirit, our teacher, 
leading us to profit. When the circumcised 
ear is turned to listen to the Lord, with whom 
there is fellowship, then common events and 
natural objects become spiritual parables. 

The soul that seeketh Him shall find Him 
everywhere, and rest continually in the realized 
sanctuary of His presence— the rock of the 
heart ! Well may He exclaim, " fools, and 
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets 
have spoken!" when it is written that "His 
delights were with the sons of men." He is 
more desirous to give than we are to receive 
that deep and full communion which He offers 
us, as free as salvation, without money and 
without price. 

I was very happy in a place to which the 



92 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

Lord had called me. I had also the occasional 
rare enjoyment of communion with one who 
walked in the light of His countenance. The 
winter had been a time of suffering, but the 
early summer was breaking upon us, restoring 
me to some measure of health, and I looked 
forward to using it in His service. 

One afternoon I sat in the sunshine, the 
valley at my feet, and the balmy breeze from 
the distant sea stealing over the May flowers. 
I felt soothed and invigorated, and never had 
my little tent in the wilderness seemed so 
desirable. The Lord had blessed me there. 
My heart was glad, for the Lord had made it 
joyful. 

Suddenly, in the stillness, I felt my spirit 
drawn into the condition of listening, and the 
impression came strongly on my mind that I 
had tarried long enough in this place ; I must 
now arise and follow Him. I strove to set it 
aside; it seemed so opposed to the purposes 
for which I fondly hoped I had been raised 
from sickness into comparative health ; but 
there it lay like a cloud upon the fair prospect 
before me. It was contrary to my natural taste 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIEIT. 93 

to leave this spot, and there seemed nothing in 
opposition to faith in remaining. So I waited 
before the Lord, desiring to do His will when 
it was made evident to me. I asked to see my 
way straight before my face. 

Later in the day I saw my friend, and said to 
her, " I think it is the Lord's will that I should 
leave you, and go to the place that. He will 
show me." 

Great was the opposition I met with. " It is 
Satan," she exclaimed impetuously. " He sees 
the blessing here, and he has put it into your 
mind to go away." 

This indeed was a fiery dart of the Wicked 
One, and one to which I have not very often 
been subject. Job's wife was used by Satan to 
tempt him, and the friend who walked with 
God was used to try me, and prove again that 
the treasure is "in earthen vessels, that the 
excellency of the power may be of God, and 
not of us." The temptation to listen to her 
was the greater, because she had followed Jesus 
for many years, and I for only three. 

There is an extensive service for the weakest 
of the family, who are circumcised in heart and 



91 THE SECRET OF THE LOKD. 

spirit, and who seek not praise of men. Let 
none, then, be discouraged ; nevertheless, their 
faith must not stand in the wisdom of men, 
but in the power of God. I find my need con- 
tinually to be reminded of this. That service 
has been the most blessed which I have re- 
ceived direct from the Spirit of Truth, — when, 
like Paul, I have not waited to confer with 
flesh and blood. " Neither told I any man what 
my God had put into my heart to do/' has often 
been one of the secrets of success in service, 
seen only by Himself. 

The source of life in the body is hidden ; we 
only see the results. The breath of the life of 
Christ hidden in the soul sets in motion the 
spiritual creature : the effects are felt and seen, 
but the life is hid with Christ in God. Our 
self-seeking and lack of subjection, our little 
quietude and patient waiting, hinder the fruit 
for others, and leave the soul barren and un- 
fruitful towards God. Work begun, continued, 
and ended, without any knowledge that the 
work for God is really of Him, or acceptable 
to Him — work done without any communion 
with Him in its details — may still, by God's 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 95 

long-suffering grace, be blessed to others, but it 
is not blessed to the servant. 

I met with great opposition from my friend. 
From this day I rapidly lost my strength. 
This I felt was the hand of God ; so I proposed 
to make the matter a subject of special prayer, 
that I might understand the will of the Lord 
concerning me. My friend left me, uncon- 
vinced that the Lord would have me leave 
the place to which He had called me; and 
promised to see me on the morrow. " The way 
of the Lord is strength to the upright." 

Next morning she met me with her heart 
subdued to His will, but still reluctant to give 
me up at once. " Yes, it is all true," she said 
sadly; "you must go, but I think not just yet." 

However, I prepared for my departure a few 
days later. A letter reached me from a Chris- 
tian lady, suggesting my going for change of air 
to the neighbourhood where she was residing. 
I had lost my strength so rapidly, that I was 
thankful that the place proposed was within 
an easy distance, which I might accomplish 
without much fatigue. 

The set time being fully come, I went. I 



96 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

called on the lady to learn where my lodgings 
were situated. As I waited for her in the 
drawing-room, feeling very weary and ill, Satan 
took occasion to tempt me by suggesting that 
this was not my place ; that I had left the one 
designed for me, the pleasant little resting- 
place, and the service suitable to my weak 
hand, and had moreover refused to be guided 
by my wise and loving friend, who knew the 
way of the Lord better than I did.. In the 
midst of this fierce onset, a large stone was 
thrown with violence against the window 
behind me, and the glass lay shattered around. 
With a cry of pain I lifted my sinking heart 
to the Lord. I dare not write the rebellious 
thoughts that rushed through my mind, soon to 
be put to flight at the word of my faithful God. 

" Wherefore" I cried, "wherefore this, 
Lord?" Instantly it was brought to me, that 
" this also cometh from the Lord of Hosts, who 
is wonderful in counsel and excellent in work- 
ing," though my thoughts did not run in the 
exact words of Scripture. 

I felt sure that the tender Guide of my 
pilgrim way would not have permitted an 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 97 

dditional trial of my faith, or an added pain 
to my suffering body, were it not that He had 
a purpose to fulfil for His own glory, in which 
also I might know Him, and the power of His 
resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffer- 
ings that I might be made conformable unto 
ffis death ; and thus for me my loss was gam. 
I pressed my hand firmly on my heart, and 
prayed Him to calm and still the throbbing 
pulse of pain. He did so. Before the lady had 
entered the room, I had returned again to the 
peaceful position of rest, and I could say, 
"Happy are thy servants which stand con- 
tinually before Thee." « But Thou, Lord, art 
a shield for me, and the lifter-up of my head. 
Now was the time to watch. The culprit of 
the broken window lived in a lane, through 
which we passed to my lodgings. The lady 
proposed accompanying me, and calling on the 
way to make a complaint against the boy to his 
parents. The cottage was pointed out. I de- 
clined to enter, and stood without. After some 
time had elapsed the door was opened. My 
friend came out first, and on the threshold of 
the door stood a tall, pale, stern-looking woman, 



98 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

with a countenance in which anger seemed j 
mingled with bitterness of spirit. I cannot 
describe the effect of her appearance upon me. 
Like a roll of mighty waters came the voice of 
Him who had called me to follow Him — 

" Therefore /" 

I kept all these things, and pondered them 
in my heart, " neither told I any one." 

I had lately experienced the additional trial 
of seeking guidance from man. It is not well 
always to reveal the counsel of the Lord. 
When tempted to speak unadvisedly and sin 
with my lips, my loss has been great. I have 
found few who understood or cared for the 
manifestation of the Holy Spirit, and speaking 
of it to those who cannot receive it has occa- 
sionally been used by Satan to lead them to 
imitate the walk without the calling, or to 
scorn the divine manifestation, and bring sin 
upon their souls. 

A few days passed. Helped by the quietude, 
and more invigorating air, I revived. 

One afternoon I went to the house in the 
lane, feeling assured that I had a mission there. 
It might be only a few words. I had seen that 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 99 

in His sight much doing was of no value with- 
out Himself; and that He who cared for the 
sparrow would care for me. I stood at the 
door, content to do His will by the power of 
the Spirit. 

After waiting long on the step, the door was 
slowly opened by the stranger, whose name 
even I did not know. The pale, stern face- 
was even sterner and more rigid. She recog- 
nized me as the companion of her visitor, and, 
perhaps, imagined I had come on the same 
errand, or one equally unwelcome ; for she did 
not appear inclined to let me enter. But the 
Lord is " able to subdue all things unto Him- 
self." He had taken me to the door, and opened 
it ; now He bade me enter. I asked permission 
to rest awhile, and she gave a cold assent. 

Nothing daunted, I sat down. The air of 
desolation in the half-furnished room was in- 
describable. I could not help feeling that the 
occupant had belonged to a better position in 
life than she now occupied. This proved to be 
the case. She had married a poor man; her 
family were too "respectable" to help her, and 
had therefore cast her off. 



100 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

She was cold and reserved, and but for the 
pity and sympathy the Lord put into my heart 
towards her, I could not have remained as an 
intruder. 

At length I drew from her that her husband 
was at sea, and she now feared he was dead, 
so long had she been without any tidings of 
him. She had six children, only two of whom 
could earn anything. She was friendless, and 
had no claim on the parish. Bitterness was 
in all her speech, and the proud heart seemed 
galled and irritated that her circumstances 
were disclosed to a stranger's ears. 

I spoke, as the Lord seemed to guide me, 
of the Eefuge in the day of trouble, and the 
power of Him who is that Eefuge. There was 
no response. I opened my Bible, and asked her 
if I should read. She assented gloomily. As 
we proceeded, I found that she knew, at least 
intellectually, the doctrine of the cross ; but 
of the peace and the power which flow from 
an experimental realization of the love of God 
she had no experience. 

I ceased to read, spoke a few words on the 
loviiigkindness of the Lord, and asked the 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 101 

desolate woman if I should pray. Her answer 
was slower ; she seemed to hesitate. At length 
she replied : 

" If you like." 

I did like. As I knelt, I said to her, " What 
do you wish me to ask the Lord? What do 
you want?" 

She seemed startled, and answered abruptly, 
" Want ! why I want my husband to come 
back, or to know where he is !" But it was in 
a tone which seemed almost to deride the 
thought of going to the Almighty God on 
such an errand. 

"Kneel with me," I said, "and I will tell 
the Lord." 

She knelt. I pleaded the tender compassion 
of my Father, and His promise. I told Him, 
as minutely as I knew, the sad circumstances 
of the poor wife and mother, and finally asked 
Him to let her hear of or from her absent 
husband, if still in the body, and to help her 
now, and cheer her sorrowful heart. Clear and 
strong came the voice of the Spirit witnessing 
that the petition was of Him. 

"In three iveeJes she will meet with him." 



102 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

Before I rose from my knees, I said to her, 
" In three weeks you will meet with him." 

She was silent ; but the amazement and fear 
visible in her countenance proved to me that 
she had not yet been comforted, and did not 
know the love of God. But He was in my 
heart, and God is love ; and I yearned over 
the forlorn woman. 

She kept her eyes upon my face, while I 
spoke with the tenderness I felt; but no an- 
swering emotion lighted her own countenance. 
I rose to depart, happy in the tender message 
of my Lord, and bade her farewell, without 
receiving any response. My foot had passed 
the threshold; she silently followed me, and 
suddenly stretched forth her long thin arm, 
until her cold hand grasped my shoulder con- 
vulsively, and arrested my steps. 

The Lord had smitten. Large tears were on 
her face. In a hoarse voice she cried out, 
rather than said, "You'll come again! You'll 
come again ! — won't you? I'll weary till I look 
on your face again." 

My heart was full as I went on my way. It 
is good to trust Him who alone seeth the end 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 103 

from the beginning. I looked back. The light 
fell full upon the tall gaunt figure upon the 
threshold. Her head was still turned in the 
direction of my steps, but her arm had fallen 
despairingly by her side, and then the door of 
the dreary home was closed. 

I visited her again, and strove to lead her to 
believe in the love of God to her. Sometimes 
she was cheered, and the Lord enabled me in 
some degree to help her. Ten days had gone 
by, when one morning a little rosy child came 
to my lodgings. The landlady told me she had 
even then been long waiting to see me. I bade 
her come in, and recognized the youngest child 
of the absent sailor (for I could not believe him 
dead). Bright and fresh as the flowers stood 
the happy messenger, her face proclaiming that 
she was the bearer of an important secret. 

" Mother sent me with this," she said, pro- 
ducing a letter ; " it came last night. Mother 
said, ma'am, 'you would like that letter;" and 
the merry eyes twinkled with delight as she 
watched me read it. 

It was from the sailor husband. A vessel, 
homeward bound, had brought it to the very 



104 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

port near to our dwelling, and a sailor had sped 
with the good news, with a sailor's delight in 
helping a messmate's wife. It told her the 
occasion of his long silence, breathing strong 
affection to her and his children : he longed to 
be with them again, and asked her to go to 
Falmouth to meet him in a week from the date 
of the letter ; for, wind and tide permitting, 
they should be in the harbour by that time. 

Three days within the three weeks they met. 
Was this chance ? 

I went to her at once, to share her joy and 
hasten her journey. A neighbour agreed to 
look after the children. I remained until she 
returned with her long-expected husband. 

" God is faithful. The Lord told us you should 
see him again," I said, as she came forward to 
greet me, her face beaming with joy. 

" Yes ; but I did not believe Him then — did 
not believe your words." 

The ship was paid off, and her husband 
joined her. No sooner had he arrived than 
the Lord led me to another place. "When I 
remember these things, I pour out my soul in 
me." (Ps. xlii. 4.) 






DESERT PLACES. 105 



CHAPTER VI. 

DESERT PLACES. 




'He withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed." 
Luke v. 16. 

^HE Most High dwelleth not in temples 
made with hands." The new heart is 
His abode, and there the Holy Spirit 
testifies His presence, felt, if not ac- 
knowledged, even by those who despise 
His power. However contracted the sphere, how- 
ever antagonistic surrounding circumstances 
may be, let none despair of testimony, and 
therefore of service. The land cannot be barren 
through which the river of life is flowing. 
Can a soul be unfruitful if it realizes fellowship 
with Jesus ? Thus in the solitary place the 
stranger may look confidently to the heavenly 
Boaz to perform the kinsman's part. We all 
know that in order to experience the weight of 
loneliness it is not needful to be alone; the 
caverns of the heart God only can fill. Thorns 



106 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

hedge up the busiest path, and even in the home 
circle there may be an isolation of the spirit, per- 
haps more complete than in a desert solitude. 

Such seasons are offers of special blessings, 
when the Beloved cries, "Open to me!" He 
waits to come with new and living power to the 
soul, in the tender relationship of friendship. 
" my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, 
in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy 
countenance, let me hear thy voice ; for sweet 
is thy voice and thy countenance is comely." 
(Song of Solomon, ii. 14.) 

Surely none can sympathize with His soli- 
tary followers so well as He who has gone 
before them. Kemember His divine capacity, 
and His lowly station on earth, His pure mind 
that endured the contradiction of sinners, and 
His holy life that called forth the scorn and 
hatred of men. But He went into the wilder- 
ness, and there * prayed." He is in the wilder- 
ness still, and He has allured His loved ones 
thither, that they may hear His voice, and learn 
more of His loving heart than th*y have yet 
done in the busy activities of life. 

But there are those who tread this solitary 



DESERT PLACES. 107 

path, too faintly realizing the love and favour 
of God. To them the wilderness is a place of 
conflict. But ah ! with whom is that conflict ? 
Not with God, but with the powers of dark- 
ness — " with wicked spirits in heavenly places." 

Soldiers of the cross ! followers of the Lamb ! 
be of good comfort ; the Captain of our sal- 
vation will meet His wounded soldier here. 
Does He command heavy chains for the feeble 
hands that can scarcely plead for the dumb 
lips ? Does the Lord upbraid the weary one ? 
Does He cast the sinking soul from His sight ? 
Nay ! He stoops to wash the dust-stained feet ; 
He cleanses the gaping wounds, pours in the 
oil of His love, and lays the drooping head 
upon His breast. " In all their affliction He is 
afflicted." 

Be of good courage, ye who meet the enemy's 
malice in many a fierce encounter in the desert 
places. Jesus is the adversary of your enemy. 
Confide in Him : " Cast not away, therefore, 
your confidence, which hath great recompence 
of reward." dks you live with Him, you shall 
live for Him ; for " light is sown for the right- 
eous, and gladness for the upright in heart." 



108 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. . 

I knew a man of God who earned his bread 
by the sweat of his brow. It was impossible 
to observe him and not feel that he was sepa- 
rated from those around him by the indwelling 
of the Holy Ghost. He told me in deep 
humility, that he could not "speak for the 
Lord," by which I discovered that he meant 
that he could not accost strangers on the sub- 
ject of their personal salvation. If he could 
not speak to man, he could to God ; and never 
shall I forget the first time I heard his voice 
raised in supplication and prayer at a little 
wayside gathering. I knew not from whom it 
proceeded, but I felt that whoever it was, that 
soul had power with God. 

He went to live in a village where none 
cared for anything beyond this present life ; he 
was a stranger indeed among them. Early and 
late he laboured in the fields. But the Lord of 
the whole earth had ordained a blessing for this 
dark hamlet when He sent His servant there, 
and a river of the water of life was to flow 
through this lonely man, unseen by all save 
the One who keepeth Israel, and who neither 
slumbers nor sleeps. 



DESERT PLACES. 109 

Yet for this ministry the servant of God 
was not required to forsake his calling, but to 
follow the Lord in it. He lived in a poor 
thatched cottage on the outskirts of the 
village ; and when his work was done, seated 
by the low casement of his room in summer 
time, he rested his weary heart in close com- 
munion with his heavenly Friend. Dispirited 
by intercourse with the mocker and profane, he 
refreshed himself with new contemplations of 
the covenant of grace, or pondered over the 
promises which he was every day proving for 
himself to be priceless treasures and constant 
sources of spiritual power. 

As he communed with God aloud, and 
poured forth his soul in prayer, a woman of 
ill character passed by the cottage door ; the 
sound of the stranger's voice arrested her steps, 
and she lingered by the casement. She listened. 
Never before had she heard a soul speaking to 
the God of its life in such glad thanksgiving 
for redemption through the blood of the Cru- 
cified, or imagined such holy boldness in ap- 
proaching the Holy One, by her unsought. It 
seemed a new language to her ears. The prayer 



110 THE SECRET OF THE LOKD. 

ceased. The listener, astonished and perplexed, 
went on her way, and the solitary man, the 
charge of angels, lay down to sleep. None but 
God saw that tiny rill of life that followed a 
sinner's steps, whispering, " Come !" " And let 
him that heareth say, Come. And let him that 
is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him 
take the water of life freely." (Rev. xxii. 17.) 

Another day passed. The woman again 
took up her station in the twilight to listen, 
and the freedom from condemnation in which 
the stranger rejoiced seemed to bind her in 
chains of misery unfelt before. Her occupation 
was a degrading one. She possessed a voice of 
remarkable power and sweetness ; her husband 
frequented the taverns in the neighbourhood, 
and she accompanied him, for with the price of 
his wife's company and songs he procured from 
the landlord or his guests the liquor that he 
thirsted for. 

Day by day the singer marked the man of 
God, to see if his life contradicted his desires 
after holiness, for his prayers set a sign upon 
him; she watched for his halting week after 
week, but watched in vain. While in. many a 



DESERT PLACES. Ill 

conflict, and in humble brokenness of spirit, 
this dweller in the desert seemed to himself a 
cumberer of the ground, as far as bringing any 
honour to God was concerned, yet through him 
flowed the living stream which should turn 
" the wilderness into a standing water, and dry 
ground into water springs." 

God's minister slept, unconscious of his 
ministry, little dreaming that the prayers he 
had breathed in the silence of that summer 
evening were disturbing the midnight orgies of 
sinners to whom he had never spoken, and who 
had never heard of his existence. The woman's 
heart was heavy, and she could not sing. She 
turned away in bitterness of spirit from the 
scene in which she had hitherto dwelt con- 
tentedly. The anger of her husband raged 
against her; his gains were gone, and the means 
of procuring his evening's unholy revelry were 
over. His persecution added to the poor 
creature's distress, but it was as nothing in 
comparison to the weight of misery on her 
heart. Heavier and heavier pressed the burden 
of her sins ; the way of escape she knew not ; 
despair took possession of her soul. Satan now 



112 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

thought the prey was his own; he whispered 
that "in death there was no remembrance;" 
but the enemy added not, " and after death the 
judgment." 

The heart -stricken woman saw only one 
way of escape from her wretched life and the 
memory of her sins, and she determined to 
rid herself of an existence which had become 
intolerable to her. One morning, when she 
thought herself secure from interruption, she 
went to a neighbouring stable, and tying a 
noose in a rope, fastened it securely to a beam 
in the roof, and prepared to end a life too 
miserable to be borne. But, as her foot was on 
the edge of the loft from which she premedi- 
tated casting herself down, the stranger's praise 
and thanksgiving for redemption through the 
precious blood of Jesus came flowing into her 
mind, and arrested her. She knelt ; she re- 
peated again and again the words of the prayer 
which had taken her captive : such sweetness 
came with the words, " Eedeemed ! pardoned 
through the precious blood of God's dear Son ! " 
As if the floodgates of her tears had opened 
the way for prayer, it poured forth in a won- 



DESERT PLACES. 113 

drous tide. The sinner wept at the feet of 
Jesus ! The prey was taken from the mighty. 
Hour after hour went by, she heeded it not ; 
and daylight had faded into evening before her 
new-born joy allowed her to perceive that the 
day was spent, and she was saved. 

When the servant of the Lord returned to 
his dwelling, it was to find a rejoicing child of 
the faith awaiting him, the fruit of those days 
that seemed of no account, save that he walked 
in fellowship with Jesus. He had lived near 
the fountain ; the stream that flowed in refresh- 
ment through ' his own soul had given life to 
the weary one without. (John iv. 14.) 

. Year after year, from many a prayer-meeting, 
arose the voice of the rescued minstrel, clear 
and strong, in strains of praise to the Lord and 
Giver of life. And not alone. Her husband 
was by her side, the first to give heed to her 
words, and to believe her witness to the Lord's 
long-suffering mercy towards herself. Heaven 
alone can declare the harvest of that lonely 
man who walked with God. 

Have you not shrunk from desert places, 
whether in the city's solitude or elsewhere, and 
I 



114 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

yet found that the Lord there revealed Himself 
in a manner that no other circumstance could 
have afforded ? 

Has He not there proved better and dearer to 
you than ten friends, and has not the wilderness 
rung with songs of heaven ? There you have 
had some new communication with the Lord you 
loved ; and, like Jacob in his desert solitude, 
exclaimed, " This is none other than the house 
of God, and this is the gate of heaven." 

I have had some experience of desert places 
in my wanderings : they have ever been pro- 
ductive of richest blessings. When, by the 
grace of God, I have been able to look to Jesus, 
and to Jesus only, He has made the wilderness 
and the solitary place glad for me, and caused 
the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose. 

Subjection is a needful requirement to meet 
the mysterious dealings of the Lord. The will 
must be offered up, not only as to place, but 
as to manner of service ; and this is often the 
Isaac last laid upon the altar. 

Eocks intervene which hide the Shepherd 
from the sheep, but never the sheep from the 
Shepherd. His wisdom apportions what shall 



DESERT PLACES. 115 

be fitting for growth and health. The footsteps 
of the flock are traced often on the ridges of 
the mountain path ; the herbage is scanty there, 
and they are often bleating for Hirn who is not 
far off. 

I narrate the following incident, trusting to 
the Lord to bless it to some member, as feeble 
as myself, who may be cast in desert places. 

I was in a position of peculiar discomfort, 
surrounded by careless worldlings, without any 
Christian companionship. Physically I was un- 
fitted for any outward service, and I missed the 
quietude needful for calm meditation. For days 
together I could not write or read, and often it 
was an effort to think or pray. 

My beloved Lord had so unmistakably placed 
me in this position, that I could confidently 
rely upon His purpose being fulfilled; though 
what that purpose was, excepting the discipline 
of an often impatient will, I knew not. 

Waiting hours are seed-times of blessing. 
But it is often the fourth watch of the night 
ere we say, " It is good to wait, on Thee." " I 
waited patiently for the Lord," is the key-note 
of a song of praise. When I say that my Lord 



116 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 



was present with me, I do not mean that I was 
in a state of joyous emotion, but I realized His 
promises, and knew that He was near me. 

If we watch in times of tribulation, and limit 
not the Holy One of Israel, the desert will be 
to His children what it was of old, a wondrous 
arena on which His almighty power is dis- 
played. Darkness of circumstances is quite a 
different phase of trial from darkness of con- 
science. Though painful to the flesh, the soul 
has a secret pleasure in watching the Lord's way 
in the mighty waters, even when His footsteps 
are not seen ; and remembering His faithful- 
ness, it exults, saying, " The Lord God shall 
help me, therefore I shall not be confounded." 
" The darkness hideth not from Thee ; hut 
the night shineth as the day. The darkness 
and the light are both alike to Thee." " Who 
is among you that feareth the Lord, that obev- 
eth the voice of His servant, that walketh in 
darkness, and hath no light ? Let him trust in 
the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God/' 
(Isaiah 1. 10.) 

One day, while I was sitting by the window 
close upon the street, an earnest-looking man 






DESERT PLACES. 117 

passed with a Bible under his arm. I watched 
hini, feeling sure that he was on some service 
for my beloved Master. I said, " I cannot read 
my Bible; Lord, help me to pray for one who 
can." I had at once the most blessed realization 
of the acceptance of my prayer following a 
servant of the Lord (for this I felt he was), and 
leaving a blessing with him. 

A week had gone by, when a steamer was 
preparing to sail. She was being loosed from 
her moorings, when I saw the same thoughtful- 
looking man with his Bible evidently hastening 
to the vessel. I prayed the Lord to detain it 
until he could reach it ; and I had the satisfac- 
tion of seeing the stranger take his place, as the 
steamer left the quay. 

I then remembered that it was on this day of 
the preceding week that I had begun to pray 
for him. Then I said in my heart, "Who knows 
but the Lord has placed me here to pray for one 
who needs special help at this season? I will 
accept it as a service ;" and I gave myself to 
prayer. 

Speaking naturally I had not the least pros- 
pect on earth of hearing of any result. Seven 



liS THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

weeks passed by; I was expecting to close a 
sojourn which, though one of much trial, had 
been brightened for seven weeks by the con- 
sciousness of a secret service known only to 
God. He "divideth to every man severally as 
He will." I looked only to the day when 
hidden things should be revealed, to know how 
my prayer had been blessed. 

The Lord had ordered it otherwise. He is a 
gracious Master to those who work but one hour 
in His vineyard. I discovered for whom I had 
been held in prayer; and, previously to my 
departure, the Lord so ordered circumstances 
that I was obliged to apply to the stranger 
on a matter which required his immediate 
reply. 

This necessitated my writing to him. I longed 
to know something of him ; but I kept the 
matter in my heart, and confined myself wholly 
to the business I had in hand. But when my 
letter was written, I felt the Lord did not smile 
on it : so I thought again, and prayed, and re- 
wrote it, but did not wait; and then sad-hearted 
and discouraged, I said, " Perhaps after all I am 
not to write." 






DESERT PLACES. 119 

Greatly to my discomfort, it seemed brought 
before me, that I must have a personal inter- 
view with the stranger. This was the only 
hard part of my service; but the Lord gave me 
sweet assurance of His presence being with me, 
and a few hours afterwards I found myself face 
to face with the subject of my seven weeks' 
prayers. 

The purpose of my visit was soon satis- 
factorily arranged, and ray heart was refreshed 
by the interview; but on taking leave of him, I 
told him, that having no service here, I had 
longed for something I could do, and from 
my seeing him pass on certain days with his 
Bible, the Lord had given me to pray for him. 
The expression of his face told me that my 
service was no delusion. 

"Tell me how long you have prayed," he 
inquired eagerly. " When was it that you first 
began ?" 

"Seven weeks ago," I answered; "on the 
fourteenth of the month." 

There was silence that I could not break. I 
felt his Master and my Master was praised and 
glorified in it. At last he said, "For seven 



120 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

weeks I have been helped and upheld beyond 
all I can tell you." 

He then detailed to me the circumstances in 
which he had been placed, and whither he was 
bound the first day I had seen him pass me 
with his Bible. 

Deep was the joy of that hour : sweet was 
the lesson to my heart. My heavenly Master 
had appointed the service, and He would have 
me reap the fruit even here. Not man's judg- 
ment of what the Lord requires from His weak 
ones, but God's own requirement, constitutes 
our true service. 

It was from this simple incident that I first 
learned to look up to Him for direction in other 
equally trying positions. God is faithful and 
will let none of His words fall to the ground. 
Gracious Lord! Thou hast said it, "Walk be- 
fore Me." 

If the Lord sends trial to His children, He 
goes with it; and if He gives faith, He tests it. 
While we strive to be rid of the cross it will 
bruise us; but if we take it up and bear it, 
looking unto Jesus, it will become a fruit- 
bearing tree. Mere emotional feeling, in which 






DESERT PLACES. 121 

the old nature bears part oftener than we are 
conscious of, is not always joy in the Lord, but 
joy in some of His gifts ; and therefore is it 
that trial and tribulation have many lasting 
benefits that outwardly prosperous days fail in 
securing. 

In fair weather, as his vessel glides over the 
water, the traveller gazes upon the coasts, bright 
in the sunshine, spread on either side of him. 
Occasionally, perhaps, he admires the wisdom 
of the Pilot. But when mists hide all the 
beauty from view, and storms beat upon the 
vessel, the voyage is not so pleasant. It calls 
for fuller faith in Him who guides. There is 
the same unerring wisdom : but before the 
tempest the traveller enjoyed the way and 
forgot the Guide, and now, with his eyes bent 
only on the Pilot, he forgets the way. 

Early in the spring of the year I came to 
England for some affairs that required my 
presence. I went to London, intending to re- 
main a fortnight, which would complete the 
matter- for which I had been summoned, and 
then to proceed into the country. 

A few days after my arrival, however, I was 



122 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

seized with severe illness. The spring passed, 
and the summer came, and I still lay in- 
capable of moving, longing to quit the close 
air, but unable to obtain any change whatever ; 
for the providence of God had so hedged up 
my path that I could in no wise pass over it. 

On the last day of August the heat was 
greater than had been known for years. The 
walls of the opposite houses and the white 
pavement reflected the rays of the sun, and the 
glare added to the discomfort produced by the 
sultry atmosphere. My couch was in a small 
apartment on the ground-floor, looking on the 
street, and the peculiar stillness which reigned 
was vocal to me of what was not, save in 
memory. 

Long days and uights of suffering left me 
incapable of occupation, and the leaden pressure 
of the heated air weighed down every thought 
which strove to rise above the body's ills. A 
longing for that which was denied me came to 
disturb yet more that time of inaction. I craved 
for the fresh pure air of the country. There . 
was nothing sinful in desiring the fresh air, you 
will say. There is sin in a rebellious desire for 



DESERT PLACES. 123 

what is deuied (Prov. xxiv. 9), a lack of sub- 
jection, a lack of love. The cross was galling, 
and I wanted it changed before it had borne 
fruit. 

I closed my eyes : visions of green woodlands 
and mountain paths rose before me, and last of 
all the childish memory of a river, with every 
bend of which I was familiar. Its banks were 
fringed with flowery sedges, and on its bosom 
blossomed the white water-lilies; the very 
ripple of the water for a moment seemed con- 
jured back by my fevered imagination. 

gracious loving God ! Thou didst not 
leave me there, dwelling on things of time and 
sense. Neither didst Thou visit my foolishness 
by giving me the desire of my discontented 
heart, by permitting me to choose my own path, 
by granting me fields and summer flowers, and 
sending leanness into my soul. 

A brother or sister might upbraid me; but 
let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for He 
is pitiful and of tender mercy, — He remem- 
bered I was dust. My brain throbbed; I tried 
vainly to rest my longing vision elsewhere, and 
turned heavily on my pillow. Through the open 



124 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

window, round the corner of the street came 
distinctly to my ear a low monotonous cry. 
It was from an old man who sold wreaths of 
immortelles, some stained and painted to 
imitate other flowers, some in their own natural 
beauty of white or gold colour ; clusters for 
ornamenting the houses of the living, and 
chaplets for adorning the low chambers of the 
dead. Clearly his voice rang through the still 

street, " Everlasting flowers ! Ever lasting 

flowers ! " 

I raised my head and listened, for to my sad 
heart the words sounded as though from heaven, 
reminding me that this was not my rest. There 
was no mistake. The words came again, distinct 
and clear, " Ever lasting flowers ! Ever- 
lasting flowers !" and then the voice ceased, and 
I heard it no more. 

The man had unconsciously delivered his 
heavenly message. The fountain of my tears 
was unsealed ; the scales fell from my mental 
vision : like the blind men by the wayside, I 
received sight. "Jesus had compassion on 
them, and touched their eyes; and immediately 
their eyes received sight, and they followed 



DESERT PLACES. 125 

Him." (Matthew xx. 34.) I recognized in this 
long-protracted suffering, this strange captivity, 
this city dwelling, this sultry, silent, oppressive 
hour, my Father's will, my Father's love. I 
bowed my neck again to His gentle yoke, and 
never since that day has the snare of green 
woodlands, and rivers, and summer flowers, held 
dominion over me. For I know that Jehovah- 
Jesus has something better for His loved ones. 
It is the new man in Christ Jesus that shall 
inhabit the glorious land; he has no part or 
portion in the earth which was cursed for man's 
sake, although it may be fair to the senses. I 
looked for a city whose Builder and Maker is 

God; I longed for fadeless joys, for ever 

lasting flowers ! 

I was content to see the summer fade into 
autumn, and autumn giving place to winter, 
and I said, He leadeth me in paths that I have 
not known; but He can open rivers in high 
places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. 
It is the same Lord who called me out of Egypt, 
and He will not forsake. I shall some day see 
why it is thus with me. Let the Lord do that 
which is ^ood in His sight. 



120 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

Soon after this, an aged relative of the mis- 
tress of the house returned from the country. 
When I saw her, she asked my prayers in be- 
half of a motherless girl in whom she had been 
much interested : first, for her soul's salvation ; 
secondly, that she might be brought to the 
house in the capacity of servant. I declined 
using my influence to induce this ; but I did 
join her in prayer, that if the Lord saw good He 
would bring it about in His own way. Perhaps . 
I had less interest in the second part of the 
request, as I daily looked forward to the pos- 
sibility of removal. 

The Lord saw fit to keep me still a prisoner ; 
but the loving bonds no longer galled the flesh. 
I was seeking Him in it all. The Hand pierced 
for me had closed the door and barred the gate ; 
and I felt sure that when the time was accom- 
plished, light would shine into my prison, and I 
should go forth understanding what the will of 
the Lord was. 

Time rolled on, and many a song of praise 
arose from the rough waters on which it was 
the will of my Lord that I should be borne. 
The young servant was engaged. I was not 



DESERT PLACES. 127 

interested in her in any other way than by 
natural love and pity for the orphan, a plea 
which few can resist. 

December came — the last week, and the 
close of the year found me where I was in its 
first quarter. The busy Christmas time was 
nigh, when the world, who celebrate the Lord's 
coming in the flesh as of the flesh, are occupied 
in planning enjoyment of the things of this 
world's good, in which the Lord Jesus could 
bear no part. (Rom. viii. 8.) 

One day our little servant arrived from the 
country. She was obedient and trustworthy in 
her service ; yet it was but fruit of the old 
nature ; the love of Jesus, as the spring of life, 
was not there : so I yearned for her salvation. 

As I sat alone in the wintry twilight, I 
looked back by the way my Lord had led me, 
when, bound in the sins and follies of the world, 
I looked forward to the joy of giving and 
receiving new-year's gifts, which had no aim 
but self-gratification; the anticipated delight 
in the receiver, and the preparation making 
up part of the satisfaction ; and I said, " Lord, 
give me a new-year's gift. Give Thou /" My 



128 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 






thoughts ran over the spiritual gifts I needed, 
but did not pause there. " Give me a soul, 
Lord ; give me Harriet's soul for my new-year's 
gift." I craved for everlasting flowers for my 
Saviour's crown. 

I have said, that in this labour of love the 
preparation of such a gift is foretasted joy, 
and the preparation of the heart is from the 
Lord. My preparation consisted in increased 
suffering, which confined me to my chamber, 
and left me more powerless than before for 
thought or action. 

To the soul resting on Jesus there is always 
peace in believing ; but those who have to learn 
the fellowship of suffering, understand some- 
thing more of conformity to His death. The 
fruit of the Spirit is brought forth according 
to its season ; and if the call is for meekness, 
patience, and long-suffering, it may be borne 
with love, from which parent-root it springs: 
but He has not asked for joy ; grieve not that 
you cannot give it. Suffer His will ; in this 
there is rich compensation ; for those that 
wait on Him shall not be ashamed. (Kev. ii. 3 ; 
Matt. xii. 50.) 



DESERT PLACES. 129 

I say this, because I would not have it sup- 
posed that it was a joyous season with me : far 
from it. I went forth weeping, bearing the 
precious seed. Weeping did not hinder the 
harvest ! It was not in my feeble hand bearing 
it ; it was in the power of the Holy Ghost in 
the seed of life cast forth. 

Days passed. At last only two remained of 
this year of peculiar exercise and trial. Only 
two ! and my prayer was still unanswered. 

Satan came in like a flood, and never did a 
more wily assault of the Evil One seek to turn 
me from the desire of my heart. I had prayed, 
I had spoken cursorily on the great salvation, 
but I met with no response ; and I saw less of 
our little maiden, so that my opportunities 
were now fewer even than before. 

Satan would fain have persuaded me that, 
as I had been unable to foresee this sickness, 
therefore prayer was void. Again — that I erred 
in having fixed a time for my prayer to be 
answered. 

Still I had asked, and I knew it depended on 
Him in whom all power dwelleth. It was as 
easy to grant my petition now as later ; and I 

K 



130 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

thought — I have asked for this soul to 
brought into light, and yet not one step in faith 
have I taken to secure it. I rose, and rang the 
bell. I feebly lifted up my heart to Him who 
knew the utterly broken reed that He ha 
taken up, and yet I -almost trembled when the 
slow and rather heavy footstep of Harriet re 
plied to my summons. 

Oh, before that day I think I never knev 
that any of those who had been saved fron 
destruction could find a difficulty in speaking 
of their own beloved Lord, or in telling another 
that He who had saved them was waiting and 
willing to save all who go to Him. 

But I did speak for Him in broken words ; 
and weak, and almost weeping, I told her of 
the love of Jesus to poor lost guilty man. 

The stolid expression of cool indifference that 
sat upon the countenance of ni}' listener was 
more painful than a contradiction of the truth 
which I brought forward, for I could have met 
that with " It is written." 

But I went on. I told her what He had 
done for mc y and that warmed my own heart j 
and I read such portions of His Word as show 



DESERT PLACES. 131 

our need of a free and full salvation, not re- 
quiring of us to do anything more than believe, 
in order to be saved ; that Christ's work was a 
finished work; that we must have everlasting 
life before we could walk or serve. " He that 
believeth hath everlasting life." 

The same gloomy face, the same hopeless 
silence. My heart, that in the fervour of 
dwelling on the loveliness of Jesus had been 
sanguine, now fell again. 

I prayed briefly with Harriet, or rather for 
her ; and then she rose, replaced the chair, 
carefully adjusted the carpet, which had been 
slightly disarranged, and, without the least trace 
of emotion on her countenance, left the room. 

I sank back, almost relieved that she was 
gone, and that I was not called to speak another 
word. I rejected the idea that I had asked that 
which the Lord was not ready to give me. It 
was for His glory ; and my only pleas were His 
love, His power, and His promise. (Matt, xxviii. 
18 ; John xv. 7.) There were yet twenty-four 
hours more. What could He not do in twenty- 
four seconds, if it pleased Him ? thou of 
little faith, wherefore dost thou doubt ? 



132 THE SECRET OF THE LOUD. 

Another day — the last ; and again I felt led 
to ring for Harriet. She came, bowed down, as 
she told me, in the misery of unpardoned sin. 
I pleaded with her to go to Jesus, just as she 
was, now. 

The temporising flesh suggested, perhaps 
some circumstances in the future, some other 
person might be more blessed to her ; in time 
this soul may live, and still it would be given 
to my prayers, and I must wait. 

Nay. I had prayed, "Lord, give me Harriet's 
soul for my new-year's gift." That compre- 
hended my instrumentality within a certain 
definite period, and in reliance that God had 
heard me, I had taken one step in action, and 
this was in testimony that I relied on His 
power; for my own utter emptiness left no- 
thing for me to rest on. 

Then I cried in my heart; such a cry as 
Elisha gave over the dead body of the child of 
the Shunammite. It was in vain to seek for 
another argument, to urge her not to delay an 
hour in seeking Him who was waiting to 
receive her. All seemed blank. Memory failed 
me ; my strength was ebbing fast. Inward 



DESERT PLACES. 133 

silent prayer was all of which I was capable, 
and my cry, "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant 
heareth," waited only on Him. " Show me the 
word in Thine own written promise that shall 
give life to the dead." 

I felt like one gone to the rescue of a drown- 
ing man, myself battling with the billows, 
blinded by the brine, so that I could no longer 
point out the harbour of refuge to the ship- 
wrecked stranger. But my feeble cry, which 
owned Jesus as my hope, and Jesus only, was 
answered speedily. I opened my Bible. Like 
an illuminated text, so bright and powerful 
stood out this blessed message of my covenant- 
keeping God: "If ye then, being evil, know 
how to give good gifts unto your children ; 
how much more shall your heavenly Father 
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him !" 
(Luke xi. 13.) It was the voice of my Beloved. 
"Behold, He conieth!" "Behold, now is the 
day of salvation." I read the verse aloud very 
slowly, and paused. " I have it ! " I cried. 
" Kneel, and ask for the Holy Spirit to be given 
you now, Harriet. He will hear and answer 
you." Jesus was indeed passing by ! Oh, so 



134 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

near, so near ! We held Him, and would not 
let Him go. 

We prayed ; for there was no doubt now that 
the bended head and clasped hands near me 
were the expression of prayer such as is heard 
in heaven; and then there was a smothered 
sob, a groan — the dead was alive. 

"My sins are gone, all gone!" exclaimed 
Harriet, as she sprang to her feet, and burst 
forth into praise; no longer the cool, indifferent 
being who had first knelt down with me, but 
with a face that told the joy of sin for ever 
washed away in the blood of the Lamb slain. 
Blessed Jesus ! He is faithful ! 

Through the glad tears there met me such a 
glance of grateful love that I shall never, never 
forget. That morning of joy was well worth a 
night of weeping. 

I said, "Dear Harriet, I asked the Lord to 
give me your soul for a new-year's gift." 

"And He has done it !" said Harriet. " My 
sins are gone ! my heart is as light as a fea- 
ther!" 

I sang with Hannah in the temple of God : 
" For this child I prayed ; and the Lord hath 



DESEKT PLACES. 135 

given me my petition which I asked of Him : 
therefore also I have lent her to the Lord ; as 
long as she liveth she shall be lent to the Lord. 
And they worshipped the Lord there." (1 Sam. 
i. 27, 28.) 

To all appearancce my words had fallen on 
deaf ears, but it was not really so. I learned 
afterwards the exercise of that soul so soon to 
be reconciled to God, and brought into the 
goodly heritage of peace and joy in believing ; 
and it strengthened my hand. 

I was allowed to see the change clear in its 
evidence, and also the growth in grace, which I 
have now watched with tender interest for ten 
years. When later I was laid still more help- 
less on my sick bed, Harriet arose daily before 
her usual time to seek in the Scriptures for 
some crumb of bread wherewith to sustain the 
life given, and committing a portion to memory, 
softly repeated each morning at my bedside the 
portion she had learned. Nor was this con- 
fined to a verse or two, but extended often to 
the greater part of a chapter. The comfort I 
found from this it is difficult to express ; for 
the peculiar light and blessing which always 



136 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

followed these portions of Scripture marked the 
certain guidance of the Holy Ghost, and the 
prayerful search that my little maiden gave to 
the task. 

This it taught me, that the Lord setteth the 
bounds of our habitation. There is no situation 
in which we are placed, but there is in it a 
blessing for all who wait on Him : they shall 
not be ashamed ! The soul that looks beyond 
life's unsatisfactory joys, and will trust Him 
unto whom all power is given both in heaven 
and on earth, shall find the Lord of Life in 
desert places, ready to open the blind eyes, and 
bring out the prisoner from the prison, and 
them that sit in darkness out of the prison- 
house. Then shall the dumb sing; for in the 
wilderness shall waters break out, and streams 
in the desert, and the parched ground shall 
become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of 
water. 



QS*X ® &Sc) 



DESERT PLACES. 137 



THE WOUNDED SOLDIER. 

" The soul of the wounded crieth out, yet God layeth not folly to 
them." — Job xxiv. 12. 

It was the hour of hattle, 

No human eye looked on ; 
Angels and devils, marvel ! 

A victory is won ! 

There is a moan of anguish, 

A warrior lies low — 
A poisoned shaft is proving 

The malice of the foe. 

In the still midnight hour 

No other sound is heard, 
The weary hands fall helpless 

That wielded well the sword. 

There is no song of triumph, 
And none the chaplet twine } 
weak and wounded soldier, 
For that pale "brow of thine. 

Hath earth no balm to bring him ? 

Hath love no word to speak, 
As in the dust he lieth 

With heart so nigh to break ? 

For fierce the foe that found him, 
And who his power can scan ? 

Oh, is there none to succour 
That sad and lonely man ? 



138 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

Earth's sweetest love, nor angel, 
Could solace now impart ; 

No song, though heard from heaven, 
Uphold' that sinking heart. 

But see ! the Man of Sorrows 
Comes where His soldier lies ; 

He marks the lip that quivers 
In untold agonies. 

Say, doth He bring him fetters, 
Or comes He to upbraid ? 

Nay ! to His loving bosom 
He draws the drooping head. 

And in that deep, deep silence, 
The gaping wounds are bound, 

With touch so soft and gentle ; 
Hush ! it is holy ground. 

Christ ! thy tender pity 

For every pang I see ; 
Each sob of pain is numbered, 

And counted as for Thee. 

Yea closer, and yet closer, 
Thy wounded one is prest ; 

And human woes are whispered 
Upon a human breast. 

Then in the solemn silence 
I hear the whisper sweet — 

" Fear not, my wounded soldier ; 
Behold my hands and feet." 



DESERT PLACES. 139 

The fever's dream is over ; 

The tearless eyes can weep ; 
And He, whose arms enfold him, 

Gives His heloved sleep. 

Rest, rest, wounded soldier ; 

Distrust thy Lord no more ; 
And think not strange the battle 

Thy Captain fought hefore. 

He knows thy fierce accuser ; 

Thou shalt not fall nor yield ; 
Hold fast thy blood-red banner, 

Thy bright sword, and thy shield. 

Behold thy strength in Jesus ; 

Believe thy Brother nigh, 
Whose heart in love o'erfloweth 

With tenderest sympathy. 

Thou hast no pain He feels not, 

No pang He doth not share ; 
And when the fight was hottest, 

Deliverance was there. 

He kept thee in the conflict, 

His shield was o'er thee thrown ; 

A Conqueror ne'er defeated, 
Thy battle was His own. 

Best in His love, and fear not ; 

The victory is won. 
weak and wounded soldier, 

Thy Lord hath said, "Well done." 



140 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE WAT OF TEE LORD. 

; 'And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? 
for ye are the temple of the living God ; as God hath 
said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them ; and I will 
be their God, and they shall be my people." 

2 Cor. vi.16. 

JAN you have communion with God, 
and yet walk with the world? "We 
marvel how any soul that has caught 
one transient gleam of the presence 
of the King of kings should need the 
question to be answered. " Know ye not that 
the friendship of the world is enmity with 
God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of 
the world is the enemy of God." 

How can you clasp the hand of the world 
that hates your Lord — that hates you, if you 
in any way resemble Him ? You urge that 
you frequent the society of worldlings as Jesus 
did, and that He sat at the board of publicans 
and sinners. Are you among them for the 







THE WAY OF THE LORD. 141 



same purpose ? — to rebuke the hypocrite and 
Pharisee, and to succour the sin -stricken? If 
your position and your powerless testimony for- 
bid this, look well to it that you have the Master 
you profess to follow as your example, and use 
not an excuse for your own self-indulgence 
which even the worldlings about you justly 
deride. "If thine eye be single, thy whole 
body shall be full of light." 

I have heard a Christian man argue with 
an ardour worthy of a better cause in defence 
of entering the rifle corps. Have heavenly 
citizens their portion in this life? Has the 
Prince of peace commanded His followers to 
cultivate earthly warfare? Has He not said, 
" My kingdom is not of this world ; if My 
kingdom were of this world, then would My 
servants fight"? 

Let those declare, who have once sought a 
heavenly city, and now have joined the ranks 
of the world's warfare, how much more they 
now know of Him who has called them to 
follow Him — how much deeper knowledge 
have they gained of Him — how much sweeter 
has been their communion — how much are 



• 142 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

they weaned from the world's snares and the 
power of sin — since they voluntarily sought 
the parade and false glory that the worldling 
delights in ? 

" Let the dead bury their dead." 

Another believing brother pleaded the neces- 
sity of retaining " manly sports," as he termed 
cricket, for needful recreation. 

" Certainly," replied the Christian addressed, 
" if to serve the Lord Jesus is irksome to you, 
and you require relaxation with the world, the 
flesh, and the devil, and you find cricket assist 
you in your heavenward course, continue it, 
pray." 

The cricket -ground has lost the Christian 
brother, and his vacant place is a testimony 
for the Lord beyond what any word which his 
position contradicted could have been. You 
may offer your hands, and your feet, and your 
head, and your voice to the Lord, but without 
your heart, it is a vain oblation. 

Abraham was called " the friend of God ; " 
but we find no such expression of endeared 
familiarity bestowed on righteous Lot, though 
he was " vexed with the filthy conversation of 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 143 

the wicked." We do not hear of him praying 
to be delivered from the evil men with whom 
it was his choice to dwell, and from whom he 
received the honour that cometh from men. 
We find that he accepted a post of dignity 
. from them, and sat in the gate. If he lived 
among them for testimony, that testimony 
was valueless ; for when he would have saved 
his relatives from the impending ruin, they 
heeded not his words : he was to them " as one 
who mocked." It is true that he was saved 
from destruction ; but it was almost by com- 
pulsion. The Lord being merciful to him, he 
was preserved. 

If you are content with the world's honours 
and favours, then you know nothing yet of 
communion with a living God. If the onty 
desire of your heart is the ill-defined hope of 
salvation from eternal death, and not of salva- 
tion from sin — if you live without fellowship 
with the Lord Jesus Christ, and persuade your- 
self that some natural attainment or peculiar 
position is needful to maintain it, and that you, 
a saved soul, may safely walk with the world, 
your loss here and hereafter is great indeed. 



144 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 



Can you picture the day which followed 
that solemn night wherein the destroying angel 
passed over the blood-sprinkled lintels of the 
Israelites' dwelling? Can you imagine tlicm 
hastening to join with the Egyptians in their 
pastimes, forgetting so soon their deliverance — 
forsaking their own mercies ? 

I remember, as I was entering into the assur- 
ance of eternal life by Christ, the testimony 
of a child who had paid a visit to a worldly 
family of my acquaintance. On being invited 
to join in some idle game, she steadily declined, 
and sat apart while others were engaged in it. 
Vainly was she urged to make one of the party. 
On being pressed to give her reasons, she 
replied with unflinching courage : 

"I do not think it would please Jesus if I 
joined in such foolish games." 

The following Sunday afternoon the little 
witness was sought for in vain. When ques- 
tioned, she confessed that she had taken her 
Bible to the kitchen, to read to the "dear 
servants;" adding, "they seemed very much 
surprised." Nevertheless, they accepted the 
ministry of the child ; and the simple prayer 






THE WAY OF THE LOED. 145 

that followed her Bible-reading must be still 
remembered. " How is it that ye sought me ? 
"Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's 
business ? " 

Communion with God is not sanctification; 
it is the fruit of sanctification. It is only 
known by the heart purged from dead works, 
and become a temple of the living God, — 
not a hall of controversy on theology, nor an 
arena for occasional worldly enjoyment. The 
lack of the Church to-day is a lack of indi- 
vidual holiness, and therefore of individual 
testimony. The natural heart would substitute 
forms and ceremonies, and mis- called "good 
works," for life in Christ ; but " their webs 
shall not become garments, neither shall they 
cover themselves with their works." It is 
easier to decorate the walls of edifices, than to 
adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour ; and to 
delight in wax candles on the altar, than in 
" the Light of the world." 

The Lord is nigh unto them that fear Him. 

" He speaketh once, yea twice, yet man per- 

ceiveth it not." He delights to walk with the 

soul whom He has called out of darkness, but 

L 



146 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

the heart is often so immersed in the things of 
time, that, as at the inn at Bethlehem, there 
is no room for the Holy Child Jesus. 

"I see there is no way to keep in commu- 
nion with God," writes one who walked with 
Him, " but by strictly adhering to the words 
of the apostle : ' I determined not to know any 
thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him 
crucified.' There must be a shutting-to of the 
door of the soul against anything else ; not 
only against sin, but also against any undue 
care of or meddling with that to which we are 
not called to attend." 

To be blind and deaf to the evil around us, 
we need the continual help of the Holy Spirit. 
None but the Holy One can touch the leper 
and be undefiled. Who cannot remember the 
wandering glance; the thoughtless perusal of 
the newspaper paragraph that fascinated the 
careless mind off the watch ; the book whose 
errors we intended to refute, and which took 
us captive ; or the idle curiosity that led us to 
look and linger ; following after, rather than 
flying from, the fowler's snare ? 

These are sinful failures that hinder us in 






THE WAY OF THE LORD. 147 

our communion, and leave us halting; and 
the accuser will again raise them before us. 
We can only escape them by fleeing anew to 
the blood of Jesus, the High Priest of the hea- 
venly sanctuary, who, being perfect Man and 
perfect God, can alone cleanse and heal. 

Must you then leave the city and go into 
retirement, to walk with God ? Nay ! where 
would you go, where sin and the world are 
not ? Has not Jesus said, " T pray not that 
Thou shouldest take them out of the world, 
but that Thou shouldest keep them from the 
evil. They are not of the world, even as I 
am not of the world." If walls of brick and 
stone could protect the soul against the sin 
which they enclose, and if ceremonial services 
and priestcraft had power to remit sin, then 
the withdrawal from a life of testimony, before 
and against an ungodly world, would be ac- 
ceptable to God, — then Christians would be 
safer in monasteries, or in any place of ascetic 
seclusion. Such places have been most nume- 
rous in the darkest periods. We are too prone 
to reckon "the world" as comprehending the idle 
amusements and enjoyments of the worldling, 



148 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

forgetting that " the world " is adapted to each 
peculiar soul, and that it consists to each in 
whatsoever he delights in out of God. 

Be not tempted to believe that fellowship 
with God is confined to a few who possess 
some special gift, or who, in forced seclusion, 
have an imaginary enjoyment of spiritual life. 
Although those who are contented with a very 
little of Christ's company are of the exceeding 
number, yet His followers are far removed 
from idle dreamers. Things of eternity are 
things of reality. Communion is compatible 
with health and vigour, with household care, 
and faithful attendance on life's daily calling. 
The trials that meet us here are but as the 
goads and nails of true crucifixion ; they drive 
us nearer to Jesus, to bring about His own 
counsels for our advancement, to hedge us 
up into a closer fellowship with Himself than 
we could otherwise attain. Martyrdom is but 
the outward fulfilment of inward crucifixion. 
It is the crucified man who walks in resurrec- 
tion life and power. " Deny thyself, take up thy 
cross, and follow Me." This is war, not peace, 
It is battle declared against the world, the 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 1-49 

flesh, and the devil. " In Me," said Christ, " ye 
have peace" — not in the world, there is no 
promise of it there. The followers of the Master 
must expect tribulation and hatred and scorn. 
Life is everywhere set forth as a conflict. By his 
halting Jacob proved that he had wrestled; 
but Israel, prince as he was, had still to serve 
and suffer. 

Marvel not that you have but faint desires 
after communion, or that you never realize its 
joy, if your thoughts are engrossed by the 
news of the world, your time wasted in the 
ceremonious visit, the aimless letter, or the 
current literature of the day — things on which 
you ask no blessing, and expect none ; then it 
is not strange that communion with the Father 
and the Son is as an unexplored land to you. 
I enquired of one dear to me, to whom the 
Lord has said, " Come up hither," why she did 
not visit the International Exhibition. She 
replied, " I am longing after closer communion 
with Jesus. I do not expect to find it at the 
Exhibition, and therefore I do not go there." 

If the spirits of the blessed could regret, 
would she be re^rettine now that she turned 



150 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

from the things of time, which her natural 
heart would have enjoyed, lest partaking of 
them should hinder her realizing her union 
with Christ. 

You may plead that you are not in a posi- 
tion favourable to the development of the 
divine life. Then you charge the Divine Giver 
of that life with injustice. To you He is the 
hard Master, the "austere man," gathering 
where He has not strown. 

It is true there are seasons when the Lord 
Himself may lead you into Egypt ; but beware 
how you seek such a place for yourself, listen- 
ing to Satan's deceitful suggestion, "Perhaps 
you may do good." Such places of testimony, 
if accepted from the Lord in prayer and watch- 
fulness, bring forth blessing ; but only so : for 
it is written, "Come out from among them, 
and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean 
thing." With your eye on Jesus, you may pass 
through the enemy's land as safely as the 
young Israelites walked through the fiery fur- 
nace before the multitude ; as securely as the 
man greatly beloved spent the night in the den 
of lions. The God whom Daniel served in the 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 151 

court of kings delivered him : He is able to 
deliver you. 

The soul must go on from strength to 
strength. The Holy Child Jesus was brought 
forth amid the herd at the wayside inn, but He 
did not live there. He grew in wisdom and 
stature, in meek obedience to His earthly 
parents ; and when the set time was fully 
come He went up to Jerusalem. He must be 
about His Father's business. 

The soul born of God is not bidden to for- 
sake the duties clearly marked out for him. 
Some think that they can only preach Christ 
by forsaking their daily calling, and that there 
is no way of recommending the gospel but by 
proclaiming it to a crowd. Doubtless many 
are called to do so; but many more, as they 
go, preach, even while they think they have 
no service for the Lord they love. They take 
up the cross, and bear it before their worldly 
family, or beneath the sneers of a godless neigh- 
bourhood : they are most effectually preaching 
by living the truth, oftentimes too lightly 
spoken and too faintly realized. There is a 
power in reality that even the scoffer does not 



152 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

gainsay in his heart. That power flows from 
fellowship with God alone — it is the Spirit's 
witness. (Song of Solomon, i. 12.) 

Is any longing to be able to say, "This is my 
Beloved, this is my Friend"? Is the desolate 
heart crying, " Where dwellest Thou ?" Hark ! 
His reply is, " Come and see." 

You may be desiring fellowship with Jesus, 
and yet be seeking by sense what is only given 
to faith. You may look for it in some great 
enterprise, and miss it in the every-day walk 
of life. You may deny that you are hindered 
through unbelief, and yet it is a virtual denial 
of Christ to make to ourselves another Christ 
than the One revealed to us. " This is the 
work of God, that ye believe on Him whom 
He hath sent." To believe on Him is to live 
with Him— to glorify Him. It is not enough | 
to know that there are treasures for us : if we 
would really possess them, we must stretch 
forth our hands for them, receive them, and 
hold fast our confidence to the end. If you 
are indeed longing after this good land, then 
acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace. 
For this you need not wait till you have 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 153 

climbed some difficult point of experience. No 
intellectual study will give it to you. "Whence 
then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of 
understanding?" (Job xxviii. 20.) The secret 
is simple faith in Christ Jesus, the wisdom of 
God, and the power of God. This is received 
hour by hour, throwing a light and interest 
over the commonest affairs of every-day life. 

The service of the sanctuary is not always 
carried on in the sight of the multitude, nor 
in the presence of our brethren. There are 
those who stand by night in the temple of the 
Lord. The service consists in the acceptance 
and faithful performance of the allotted work. 
The post of each servant is alike honourable and 
of equal responsibility : " for unto whomsoever 
much is given, of him shall be much required ; 
and to whom men have committed much, of 
him they will ask the more." (Luke xii. 48.) 

Baal-hanan the Gederite, the overseer of the 
olive trees and sycamore trees in the low plains 
(1 Chron. xxvii. 28), had his work without the 
house. But the oil from the crushed berry 
called for the service of Joash : he was ap- 
pointed guardian over the cellars of oil. Both 



154 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

were needed; each must faithfully fulfil his 
office. 

So now, we have our Gederites in the olive 
groves in the sight of men, who know nothing 
of the hidden treasures over which some chosen 
Joash keeps his vigilant watch. None are ex- 
empt from the life of faith ; for " without faith 
it is impossible to please Him ; for he that 
cometh to God must believe that He is, and 
that He is a rewarder of them that diligently 
seek Him." (Heb. xi. 6.) "The knowledge of 
His will in all wisdom and spiritual under- 
standing" is the spring of service — "that ye 
might walk worthy of the Lord unto all 
pleasing, being fruitful in every good work." 
(Col. i. 10.) 

If we will be children, led by the Spirit, 
renouncing our own wisdom, and willing to be 
nothing, I believe we shall see and hear Him 
who came to do the will of His Father. 

All service ought surely to flow from com- 
munion with the Father and the guidance of 
the Holy Spirit; and the outward act should be 
an act of faith, for whatsoever is not of faith is 
sin. In this way tract distribution, the Sunday- 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 155 

school class, and every other kind of Christian 
work, would be as great a blessing to the giver 
as to the receiver. There might be less actually 
done ; there would be less to be burnt up. My 
own service and testimony are for the most 
part within a narrow limit ; but, nevertheless, 
it is possible that the same experience would 
hold good in a far wider sphere. I have found 
that the " word spoken in season " must come 
from God, if it is to reach the heart, and the 
seed must be committed to Him, if we expect 
to gather the grain. 

I remember, in a time of affliction, when I 
had been long a prisoner to the house through 
sickness, I desired to be used, feeble instrument 
as I am, by my gracious Lord, who had laden 
me with benefits. It was a bright afternoon, 
and the necessity of air to assist my recovery, 
after many months of illness, led me to seek 
the will of the Lord in what manner I could 
at the same time serve Him. The case of a sick 
person whom I could perhaps help was brought 
under my notice. I was unable to walk, and had 
it been otherwise, the distance was beyond my 



156 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

strength. I therefore proposed taking a cab. 
Desiring that the Lord should guide 
step, I walked softly, that I might not miss 
any token of His guiding hand. Several cabs 
passed me as I waited, but I did not feel five 
to use any of them. I was weary, and I sought 
the Lord's guidance before returning to the 
house, which was within a few yards of the 
place where I stood. The object of my journey 
I had seen plainly enough placed before me ; 
the way of its accomplishment was yet to be 
made known. 

I reasoned in vain, and returned to the sim- 
plicity of the babe, and prayed that my tender 
Father would show me in what conveyance He 
would have me go. My eye was led to an omni- 
bus that was waiting for a change of horses. 
This gave me time to reach it, and on finding 
that it went to the end of the square I desired to 
visit I entered it. AVhen I say I felt God with 
me, those who know His presence as their jos 
and strength will understand the feeling with 
which I took my seat in the omnibus. A 
coarse-looking grazier from the cattle-market 
was the only occupant. He was making up his 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 157 

accounts, and counting his money. I would not 
interrupt him. I sat still and prayed. But when 
his accounts were finished, I offered him a tract. 
His first impulse was to thrust it back; his 
second to keep it. He looked at my mourning 
dress, and then in my face. God moved him to 
relent, and he held the tract still in his hand. 
T spoke a few words, to which he gave a gruff 
but not insolent answer. The omnibus door 
opened, and a gentleman and lady entered, the 
latter careless-looking and fashionably dressed. 

The grazier's eyes said, as plainly as eyes 
could say, " Ah, you gave a tract to me ; you'll 
give none to those fine folk." 

Again I laid my feeble heart before the Eock 
of my strength, and prayed Him to brace it 
for the next struggle ; for I confess I had found 
it easier to give the tract to the rough grazier 
than to the fine gentleman. 

Did you ever trust in God and were con- 
founded ? 

No ! My fingers moved amongst the mes- 
sengers of mercy, believing God was with me. 
I am no heroine ; my heart beat very fast, and 
my hand trembled, but I offered our smart 



158 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

companion a tract, and the lady also, and they 
received them. The grazier's eyes were on me, 
and he smiled such entire approbation that I 
felt cheered. Now he looked at the tract I had 
given him, and then read it; and, with his 
horny fingers, he smoothed it carefully in folds, 
and, opening his pocket-book, laid it amongst 
his paper money, and placed it in his breast. 

My weak hand was strong that day, for I 
knew who had done it all. 

A poor forlorn woman joined us ; she sat 
near me, and read a little book that I had given 
her, and I saw tears in her eyes. As each per- 
son came in I sought a fresh anointing ; and, I 
can truly say it, the Lord was there. When we 
reached my destination, I had one messenger 
left, which I gave to the conductor, who touched 
his hat and put the tract in his pocket. 

The exercise of faith, and hope, and prayer, 
to which the little journey gave rise, taught me 
a lesson which I have not forgotten. Surely the 
Lord will often teach us in the sunshine of His 
smile, if we will be but babes. 

There was nothing actually done before my 
eyes to show that my tract distribution was 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 159 

successful. Granted. I had asked the Lord to 
let me serve Him — I, who am the least in my 
Father's house. He knew what He wanted 
done. I did not ask for results, I only asked to 
do His will ; and He gave me the blessed con- 
sciousness that I had done it, and that He had 
smiled on me in the doing. 

Martha is often left to "serve alone;" she 
loves serving. Mary is not alone ; the object 
of her desire is before her. Yet she is serving 
Him by sitting silently listening to the voice of 
the Beloved. Oh to be found oftener there ! 

Out of living communion with a living God 
should flow life and service. And there may be 
as much obedience in walking silently, or in 
travelling silently, as in giving tracts and books. 
Prayer is always ministration, and the way is 
opened for the word by a mighty hand, if our 
eyes are up unto Him who maketh a way in 
the darkest wilderness. 

I know that many are troubled in regard 
to tract distribution, and also as to speaking 
to their fellow-travellers on railway and other 
journeys. This ought not to be. Waiting on 
the Lord will make all plain; watching Him 



L60 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 



:ed 
he 



will prevent many a fiery dart of the Wicked 
One from reaching the willing workers ; and the 
heart bent on doing His will, and the eye on 
Him, is service, though none else behold it. 

The fact of your having a tract in your 
pocket, is not the reason why you should give 
it, without asking counsel of the Lord. You 
see a wearied man, with closed eyes, sitting in 
a corner of the carriage. You may know him 
by sight, as one of the earnest labourers in the 
vineyard. You judge him — why does he not 
give away tracts, or speak to these people who 
are talking recklessly and lightly around ? Let 
him alone. He is resting his weary head upon 
a Saviour's loving bosom; he is holding com- 
munion with Him who has upheld him through 
the labours, and trials, and temptations of the 
day. (And oh that we had more communion, 
in these days of restless activity!) Neither 
expect him to give a tract, nor break that 
moment's peace by offering him one. 

To walk with God is the secret of blessing ; 
less may be visibly done, but that little will 
have glorified the Lord in the soul so exercised, 
and bear on it the impress of God's work, not 
man's. 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 161 

This journey in the omnibus had a special 
preparation for me. It led me to accept the 
least service, if called on to follow the Lord ; 
and there is great need of watchfulness to be 
kept from all delusions of Satan, in waiting as 
well as working. The witness of the Spirit is 
never denied to the seeking soul, that desires 
to be conformed to Him who came to do the 
will of His Father and our Father. 

I had some business to be transacted in a 
distant part of the country, for which it ap- 
peared needful to employ a solicitor. He gave 
me some idea of the probable expense, which 
far exceeded what I expected. While ponder- 
ing what the Lord's will was in the case, it 
came to my mind that by His help I could go 
myself, and that He would direct my path, and 
give me understanding of the matter in hand. 
I was not hasty in deciding ; but this was from 
natural reasons. I hoped that some other way 
might yet be opened whereby I could escape 
the cross, for cross it was. 

After a few clays an envelope reached me, 
containing the sum which would have paid the 
expenses of the solicitor, had he undertaken 

M 



162 THE SECRET OF THE LOKD. 

the journey as he proposed As far as outward 

circumstances could be taken for guide, with- 
out the witness of the Spirit, I should have 
felt justified in employing him, and avoiding 
the journey. I believe this was a test whether 
I would serve the Lord or not. I truly sought 
to be guided, and the more I watched and 
prayed, the fuller was the confirmation that the 
Lord had chosen me to go. 

I had been confined to my sick-room in my 
little lodgings for the winter and spring. The 
prostration consequent on over-exertion tolc 
(as it ever will) upon shattered nerves and an 
over-wrought frame. I could not realize any- 
thing but pain, and the troubles and temp 
tations of the way. All happy communion 
seemed shut out by clouds and shadows. I was 
leaving friends, with whom I had happy fellow- 
ship, to go among those who neither lovec 
my Lord, nor believed the full blessed trutl 
of revelation. It was indeed going down into 
Egypt. 

The day previous to my departure my cup 
was quite full. I was tempted to think that 
was acting out a delusion ; and that because 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 163 

nature shrank from the journey I called it a 
cross, and wanted to bear it in spiritual pride. 
Satan came in like a flood ; faith failed ! 

I sat upon the floor, my portmanteau was 
half packed, and leaning my aching head upon 
it, in very weariness I wept bitterly. My pre- 
cious Lord who wept on earth was watching 
the weeper, and waiting to heal and comfort. 
Among the litter scattered around lay fragments 
of packing-paper, in which some articles from 
a warehouse had been folded. Mechanically I 
rolled a slip on my fingers; as I did so the 
words "the Lord Almighty" caught my eye. 
Instantly I smoothed the torn and crumpled 
leaf, and read, "I, who commanded thee to take 
this journey, am the Lord Almighty. I will he 
with thee to Mess thee." 

Never will that moment be obliterated from 
my heart, for still in the eternal kingdom I 
shall tell the wondrous tale of eternal love to 
the worst of sinners. Had Gabriel suddenly 
appeared to me as before Zacharias, and de- 
clared the message of the Lord of Hosts, these 
glad tidings could not have shaken my soul 
with more astounding power. It was as if God 



164 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

were speaking face to face with me, as with His 
servants of old. I believed the message was 
for me. My countenance was no more sad. 
I finished my labours with a light heart. 
Without a pang I left behind me all I loved ; 
for had not my Lord said, " I will be with thee 
to bless thee"?* 

I accomplished my long journey, but with 
more obstacles than had hitherto met me on 
my travels. We say, "It is the Lord!" when 
all earthly good prospers according to our 
natural desires. We enclose a great multitude 
of fishes, and we believe God is with us. But 
when He leads beneath stormy skies, we do not 
recognize the loving Lord who walks upon the 
rough waters where our bark is tempest-tossed ; 
yet the trial of faith and love thus being proved 
in these lonely hours with Jesus only, is as 

* A few words on the message so blessedly used to my 
solace and deliverance. Not another sentence was legible, 
but a line at the edge of a corresponding leaf opened to me 
another anthem of praise. It was a fragment of "The 
Penny Pulpit,'' and I had prayed many times for the 
preacher who had delivered the sermon; why or wherefore 
I could not tell, as I had no personal knowledge of him 
beyond the simple fact of seeing his name in print, and my 
mind being attracted to him. 






THE WAY OF THE LOED. 165 

mighty a display of grace, and as precious in 
His sight, as when * the seventy returned again 
with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are sub- 
ject unto us through thy name." (Luke x. 17.) 

Previous to my leaving London, the editor of 
"The Life of Eichard Weaver" had called on 
me, and brought me the only copy of the book 
ready from the press. We prayed together for 
the work in general, and for this copy in par- 
ticular, trusting it would have some mission 
in the worldly family where for a brief season 
I must sojourn. 

I arrived at the house where I was to re- 
main, until the business which had taken me 
into the country was arranged. In spite of the 
sweet love-message which I still cherished, I 
was often heart-sick and sad at all that sur- 
rounded me, so utterly was my beloved Master 
despised. But the Lord was using His enemies 
for my enlargement. 

The Lord had given me much favour in the 
eyes of the housekeeper, a faithful, conscien- 
tious person, but without any knowledge of 
her own state as a lost sinner, and consequently 
without any desire after Him who is the Sa- 



166 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

viour. I strove to lead her to hear what God 
had said of our own righteousness, but without 
any visible result. One afternoon she told me 
that a young girl, who had been a servant in 
the family, lay sick at home. Her mother's 
cottage was within a drive. She offered to put 
a basket of provisions in the carriage, suitable 
for the sick girl, if I would go to the next 
village and see her. She was very anxious 
that I should not forget some tracts: "And 
be sure," she added, "take your Bible; for 
the poor sinners here have no one to teach 
them." 

On this I said, "Are you a sinner ?" 

" No," she replied with an expression of 
entire self-satisfaction ; " I never did any harm 
to any one in all my life ; but these poor crea- 
tures are very ignorant." 

The Holy Ghost can alone convince of sin. 
She remained immovable ; and I have since 
thought that she was glad to find me service 
outside the house, to prevent my troubling the 
peace within. 

The carriage arrived at the door before I 
expected it, and hurriedly taking my bag from 






THE WAY OF THE LORD. 167 

the drawing-room table, I was on my way to 
the cottage, accompanied by a pretty, careless 
girl, one of the family of my host. 

The lanes we drove through were bright in 
the sunshine after a recent shower, and the air 
was perfumed by the tasselled larch, and the 
sweet scent of the meadows. Everything was 
fresh and lovely. 

The sick-room in the cottage, and the suffer- 
ing face of the poor invalid, were a contrast to 
the scene without. Her mother was a garrulous 
old woman, with a ready joke and laugh, and 
appeared quite regardless of her daughter's 
state, which was evidently very critical. To 
me she seemed fast sinking ; but the girl her- 
self spoke 'cheerfully of her recovery, and was 
sanguine of soon taking her place again in the 
household which she served. 

With such companions, the task of visiting 
this poor girl with purposes of love was an 
almost hopeless matter, as far as the instrument 
was concerned. But my trust was not in an 
arm of flesh, but in the living God. I prayed, 
and waited. Soon I saw the Lord working for 
me. The old woman led my companion to the 



168 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

end of a long granary, where their voices were 
scarcely audible, and thence into the garden, 
and I was left alone with the sick girl. I at 
once spoke to her of the possible termination 
of her sickness by death, and asked her if she 
knew anything of Jesus as the good Shepherd 
and the great Physician. The face of the girl 
was turned to me in wonder. She listened as 
if it were a new song. She did not say she 
"hoped that her sins were pardoned," or she 
" trusted that God would be merciful." She 
only looked up into my face with eager and 
absorbed interest, leaning on her elbow towards 
me, as if she would not lose a word. But as I 
told her, if she saw herself a sinner, that Jesus 
stood there ready to receive her, the tears fell 
fast over her wan face, while an expression of 
grateful love lighted up her countenance. I 
repeated a few texts to her, and, finding that 
we were still undisturbed, I opened my bag for 
my Bible. Great was my consternation ; no 
Bible was there, nor even a tract, — only the 
"Life of Eichard Weaver," which I had taken 
by mistake for my pocket Bible as it lay be- 
side it. Disappointed and grieved, I replaced 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 169 

it in my bag. We were interrupted by my 
companion, who summoned me to the carriage. 
My time had expired. With a sense of utter 
helplessness, and in deep regret for my want of 
care, I lifted up my heart to the Lord who is 
mighty to save. 

I felt strangely comforted. With my hand 
on the book, the whisper of that voice of love, 
which is heard when the earth keeps silence 
before it, came distinct and clear, " Give it." 
Again I lifted up my heart, and again came 
the gentle suggestion " Give it." With a silent 
prayer for spiritual blessing, I gave the book, 
and told the poor girl it was hers if she desired 
it. She looked at the bright green cover, and 
turning over a page or two, her eye lingered 
delightedly on a paragraph concerning the lost 
sheep. Her face beaming with joy, she eagerly 
thrust the volume in the bed, as her mother 
entered the room. I bade the poor girl farewell, 
promising soon to see her again, if the Lord 
permitted. The loving look of gratitude which 
followed me to the door soothed and cheered 
me. I felt that I had done nothing but lead 
her thoughts to the probable termination of her 



170 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

illness, and to the mighty love of the good 
Shepherd, who laid down His life for His 
sheep. 

On my return, I told the housekeeper how ill 
I thought the servant ; but she would not be- 
lieve it, and insisted on keeping open her place 
in the household, confident that she would be 
able to resume her duties, as she had done 
before. I was suddenly called away, and was 
detained for a fortnight. My first question 
on entering the house again was, " How is 
Susan?" 

"Dead!" was the startling reply that fell 
heavily on my ear. 

" Dead ! " I repeated. 

" Yes, dead — died mad ! And they say you 
made her so. And they are all ready to do 
anything to you, if you go there." 

"Mad!" I said, greatly shocked. "What did 
she do ? " 

" Why she cried all night, and said she was 
going to hell, and called herself a lost sinner, 
poor young creature. She begged her mother to 
fetch the kind lady who had spoken to her, for 
she would help her." 



THE WAY OF THE LOEB. 171 

"And did she come?" I enquired, trembling 
lest they had sought for me in vain. 

"No!" replied the indignant housekeeper; 
f it was something in that book you gave her 
that did the mischief. She read it, and read 
it again, and cried and sobbed. At last they 
fetched the doctor. He ordered the book to be 
taken away, and said it had killed her (though 
he had not been to see her for weeks). But she 
wept and prayed to have her book again. So 
they sent for the parson. He said her mind 
was quite gone, and you and your book had 
done it. 

" Two or three days after this she awoke her 
mother early in the morning. She was quite 
cheerful. She said, ' Mother, I am so happy ; 
I am going to live with Jesus ; I have seen it 
all in a dream. I shall walk with Him in the 
green pastures I saw last night.'" 

And with some few more words precious to 
my sorrowful heart, she died. 

Lord God Almighty, Thou art faithful! Ac- 
cording to Thy promise Thou didst go with me 
on this journey, and Thou didst bless me. 
Glory to Thee alone ! 



172 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

The housekeeper, however much she was 
opposed to the doctrine of grace, prepared my 
way from time to time among "the poor sin- 
ners." Three of these were backsliders. One 
from marriage with an unbeliever ; the others, 
like Lot, had chosen the fertile land, and dis- 
regarded the upper springs. Thus from luke- 
warmness they had fallen into careless walking 
and deadness of soul. 

The housekeeper, notwithstanding her dis- 
pleasure at the loss of her favourite servant, 
begged the book which, as she said, had been 
the cause of her death, to keep in remembrance 
of her. My own path was full of trial ; but 
abounding grace sustained, protected, and de- 
livered me. 

Dear reader, if you go into Egypt, be sure 
the God of Israel has commanded you; then 
"be strong and of a good courage; be not 
afraid, neither be thou dismayed : for the Lord 
thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." 
(Joshua i. 9.) 

I do not ask it otherwise, 

spotless Son of God ; 
I do not ask to tread a path 

That Thou hast never trod. 



THE WAY OF THE LORD. 173 

Better to suffer — better far 

To taste the cup of woe, 
Than miss Thy smile of tenderness, 

My light and joy below. 

It is enough to know Thy will, 

And meekly follow Thee ; 
Enough ! Thou wilt not lead me, Lord, 

"Where Thou canst never be. 

Then shall I weigh the worldling's sneer, 

Or dread the laugh of scorn ; 
Sharing with Thy sweet fellowship, 

The griefs that Thou hast borne ? 



174 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SYMPATHY OF JESTJS. 

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of 
them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 
Fear ye not therefore ; ye are of more value than many 
sparrows." — Matt. x. 29-31. 

=<HERE is nothing great or small to Him 
who rules the world. Page after page 
in God's blessed Book reveals this. 
Those who delight to follow the un- 
folding of the Divine purpose, in the 
minute chain of circumstance developed there, 
will love to see God everywhere, and to find 
a speech and language in the daily events of 
life : the heart will be full of Him who filleth 
all creation. 

When the stripling shepherd took the parched 
corn and loaves to his brethren, it was his first 
step towards the throne. Ahasuerus's sleepless 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 175 

night led to Mordecai's promotion. When Ruth 
went forth to glean in the fields of Boaz, she 
knew not that her foot was on her own fair 
inheritance. When the woman of Samaria 
carried her pitcher to the well, it was to meet 
One greater than her father Abraham, and One 
who gave unto her the living water. 

The Lord, who would have His own to be 
all things to all men, will be all things to us 
according to bur faith. To the soul that will 
only be satisfied with intimate and unbroken 
fellowship He manifests Himself as the Friend 
who sticketh closer than a brother. What- 
ever thy need, the almighty Lord can meet 
it. Aforetime He condescended to encourage 
the timorous Gideon by a twofold sign, and 
strengthen him by the narration of a dream. 
He manifests Himself to the doubting Thomas 
in the way best calculated to dispel his doubt 
and remove his unbelief. 

He is still the same Jesus. He knows the 
hearts He has to deal with. He knew what 
we were when He called us to follow Him. 
He foresaw that we should distrust Him, deny 
Him, forsake Him. But He is the almighty 



176 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

God, and not man ; He loves us with an ever- 
lasting love. 

The Lord who said, " I will bring the blind 
by a way they know not," also promised, 
"Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, 
saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye 
turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to 
the left." 

You commit yourself to the guidance of 
even a stranger who knows the point you desire 
to reach; and when you hear his voice cheer- 
ing you onward, you take courage, though the 
mountain path be steep, and the mists blind 
your eyes. Will you give less confiding trust 
to Him who saith, "All power is given unto 
Me in heaven and in earth ;" " Follow Me " ? 

The minute thread of heavenly blessing run- 
ning through the following incident, I always 
remember, as one of the teachers which the 
Lord has chosen I should behold for His praise 
and glory. (Isa. xxx. 20.) 

One morning I found on my writing-table 
two numbers of The Revival which had been 
removed from a drawer, where the periodical 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 177 

usually remained until the end of the month, 
when I forwarded a package into the country. 
I replaced them. The following day the servant 
had placed them again on my writing-table 
with some books. They were in my way; 
impatiently I put them aside. As I did so, I 
felt ashamed of my impetuosity, and sat down 
before the Lord grieved in spirit. I considered 
how often I was irritated by trifles, in which, 
when I had taken them to Him, I subsequently 
found blessing, and I began to enquire of the 
Lord why it was thus. 

I thought that I might have omitted to 
read one of these papers; but, on looking at 
the date, I remembered that it was a very 
interesting number; and as I held it prayer- 
fully in my hand, it struck me that I had 
possibly overlooked something that the Lord 
intended as a blessing for me. I carefully 
perused the first page or two, when my atten- 
tion was arrested by the account of a blind 
boy learning to read by means of raised letters. 
I had read it all before, but I could proceed no 
further. The Spirit of the Lord most clearly 
said to me — 

N 



178 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

" Send him eighteen-pence." 

I replied, " Lord, I know not where he lives." 

I sat quietly waiting, and it was brought to 
ray mind that I could forward the money to a 
person living in or near the same village, and 
that thus it would reach him. A text was given 
me to enclose, which I wrote. I addressed an 
envelope to the person who should forward the 
stamps, and proceeded to direct one to the 
blind youth himself. One or two very common 
envelopes lay before me, but my hand was on 
a good one with a deep mourning border. I 
reasoned that the common one would do equally 
well, and laid the other aside. Hastily com- 
pleting the matter, I sought a messenger to 
post my letter. 

In vain. The rain poured in torrents. But 
rain or sunshine was of little account to me ; 
a desolation of spirit had fallen on me, which 
no sunshine could dispel. Amazed and afraid, 
I enquired, as I often have to do, " Why is it 
thus with me?" "Had I not done the Lord's 
will in the Lord's time ?" Yes. But had I done 
it in the Lord's way ? I took the letter from 
the mantel- shelf, and opened it. There was 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 179 

the text as given — the stamps my loving Lord 
had permitted me to send. Something was 
lacking: what was it? It was the best en- 
velope. 

I argued, "The blind boy cannot see it." 
Nay ; it was for the Lord. 

At last I thought, Can it really be that the 
Lord wishes me to use the best envelope? 
Then I was willing to be a fool for Christ's 
sake; and I was able to say, "Lord, it is a 
little thing ; but it is better to do it, believing 
it is thy will, than miss Thee by not doing 
it." Accordingly I addressed the long black- 
bordered envelope to the blind boy, and again 
enclosed it. 

Then the earth-mist of unbelief floated away 
before the light of the Sun of Eighteousness, 
and my heart was glad. Before the post time 
a messenger was found, for the rain had ceased. 
My letter was posted, and I rested peacefully 
on the Eock of my heart. 

It was bread cast upon the waters. About 
two months after this, in a season of great 
depression from trial and temptation, a dear 
servant of the Lord called on me. I was not 

N 2 



180 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 






in the house; but the servant sought me, 
saying a stranger had called, and that he 
could only remain a short time. I went in 
full of hope. I knew not why. I felt sure 
the Lord would comfort me through His own 
messenger. 

After we had spoken a little, he said, smiling, 
" So you have a correspondent at K ? " 

" No," I replied ; " I have none there." 

" That is strange," he answered ; " I thought 
I knew your handwriting. I was in a cottage 
there one day, and among the papers and let- 
ters in the casement I saw a black-bordered 
envelope. This attracted my attention, and 
I said to the woman, 'Who is your corres- 
pondent?'" 

"'Ah, sir,' she replied, 'that is a w r onderful 
answer to prayer. Poor Leonard has his "blind 
books," you know. He has almost all the Tes- 
tament now, and he wanted a box for them. 
The carpenter said that he would make him 
one for fifteen -pence. So Leonard prayed to 
the Lord to send him the money. There came 
this letter, as you see, with eighteen -pence in 
stamps and this text, which was indeed for 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 181 

him. We don't know the name ; but Leonard 
always prays for his "friend in London."'" 

Precious, precious return! A flood of thanks- 
giving rushed through my clouded heart, and 
carried doubt and distrust away. 

The gracious Teacher who was moulding my 
ungracious heart was gathering up the blind 
boy's prayer. " Fear not, ye are of more value 
than many sparrows." 

"What is thy Beloved more than another 
beloved, that thou dost so charge us?" (Song 
of Solomon, v. 9.) 

" Saw ye my soul's Beloved, 
The faithful and the true ? 
Tell Him I seek Him, sighing, 
Longing to see Him too. 

" Tell Him, oh, tell Him for me, 
His steps I cannot trace ; 
I pine till He restore me 
The sunshine of His face." 

" Who is thy soul's Beloved ? 
And whither is He gone ? 
Why charge us thus ? We know not 
Thy lost beloved One." 

" My Love is white and ruddy : 
Who can His charms declare? 
The chief among ten thousand, 
And altogether fair. 



182 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

u I slumbered in the garden, 
I wandered from the way, 
I lost the light that led me, 
My joy has passed away. 



" I sought Him in the broad way, 
In the city's streets in vain ; 
Returning to the valley, 
I found my Love again." 

By visible and by invisible means the Lord 
nswers the need of the heart. His resources 
are infinite, and He loves that we should believe 
they are so. 

A few years ago my faith was tried by the 
agony of a bereaved mother weeping for her 
first-born. Grief had blinded her eyes to life's 
daily duties and to God's tender love. In vain I 
sought to comfort her ; it was human comfort : 
the words fell on her ear, but never touched 
her heart. She only realized her darling in the 
grave, and sighed to behold him again. 

At last one evening I felt I had been seeking 
to console her myself, and had not carried her 
grief to Him who is the Comforter. I pra} T ed 
Him that night to soothe and comfort her in 
His own way; for only He who made a parent's 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 183 

heart so tender, and knew the treasure He had 
gathered, could minister to her overwrought 
mind. I left her for the first time at the mercy- 
seat. The following morning she met me with 
a smile. She told me that in a dream of the 
night she had beheld her child, bright and 
blooming as before the brief illness which 
carried him to his rest. He drew back the blue 
curtain of the sky, and smiling upon her, told 
her she must wait a little longer patiently, and 
that then they should meet again. 

I was touched by the gracious pity that fell 
on the sorrow of a mother's heart ; and she 
learned another lesson of heavenly love, and 
ivas comforted. 

She knew her child was safe with Jesus. 
There was no assurance needed for that ; nor 
would a dream or vision have strengthened her 
conviction. Bright was the testimony of the 
power of the life of Christ in her son, a boy of 
twelve years of age. We had only to track his 
footsteps here to know his resting-place there. 
bruised and bleeding hearts ! seek ye the 
pierced hand of Jesus, who came to bind up 
the broken-hearted and comfort all that mourn. 



184 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 



The sympathy of the Lord is full and free, and 
unlike our niggard gift of love to others. 

There was a Christian girl who had a friend 
to whom she was tenderly attached. The foun- 
dation of that friendship was the only one that 
never fails — it was knit in Christ. The means 
of instruction were scant around them, and 
the two young witnesses stood alone in their 
families, helping and encouraging each other 
on a way beset with difficulties. The one with 
whom I was acquainted was assailed with 
temptation, partly on questions as to the sepa- 
rate state — a wile of the Evil One to draw her 
from her simplicity, and entangle her in vain 
philosophy. 

She proposed to her friend, that in case of 
the death of either of them, if still together, 
they should mutually strengthen each other 
by making known any consciousness of glory 
beyond the grave. 

She said to me, " My dear Helen fell sick 
soon after. Great was my grief. In the few 
weeks during which she was rapidly fading, her 
growth in grace was so visible that I know now 
that the Holy Ghost was her teacher. She told 



. 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 185 

me that she was thankful for her illness, as it 
left her more alone with Jesus, and she could 
now pass much of her time on her knees. 

" I did not realize that I should lose her, or 
know how my heart would be drawn from my 
dying to my undying Friend. She grew sud- 
denly worse. I was sent for at her request, and 
when I entered the room I saw that she was 
greatly changed. She lay motionless, without 
evidence of life. I feared that she had passed 
away, and I had not been near her to receive 
her last look or hear her last word. 

" After long waiting her pulse again beat. A 
faint colour appeared on her lips, while her face 
literally shone like an angel's. 

" She turned to me, and said in a clear voice, 
'I have been to heaven! but I shall remain 
here a little longer. Such nearness to Christ 
have I experienced ! such views of the atone- 
ment ! It is impossible to speak of it or 
describe it.' 

"I said to her, f Eemember, Helen, if you see 
or know anything of the glory as you leave me, 
let me know.' ' I will,' she answered solemnly ; 
' it is a covenant between us.' 



186 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

u She appeared better ; but I returned home, 
heavy at heart to leave her. 

" Before many days had passed, drawn by 
the force of our fond eternal affection, I again 
returned to her. As I had feared, my beloved 
friend was suddenly worse. Convulsions had 
seized her. Her end threatened to be one of 
terrible sufferings. Vainly her nurse and some 
of her family sought to dissuade me from 
witnessing them, as I could not relieve them. 
I took my place by her side ; the convulsions 
ceased ; she became calm and still ; I bent over 
her ; she smiled sweetly, and said, ' No valley ; 
no shadow.' Then all was quiet. 

" ' All is over !' said the sister, trying to lead 
me from the bed. Nay; for me all was not over. 

"She lay still and motionless; every pnlse 
had ceased. The nurse closed her eyes. 

"I knelt beside her, and took in mine the 
deathly hand which lay lifeless by her side. 

"Amid my sobs of anguish I exclaimed, 
' Helen ! Helen ! do you know me ? Do you 
remember our covenant V 

"Never can I describe that moment. The eyes 
that had seemed closed for ever now opened 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 187 

again. She gazed in my face. That look I shall 
never forget. Such eyes, I should think, have 
the angels before the throne. In a sweet, dis- 
tinct, most thrilling voice, she said, 

" ' I am just entering heaven ! ' 

" Her eyelids fell ; her lips closed ; all was 
still ; she never moved again." 

God in His pitiful love to the tempted one 
had sent her friend back to show heaven in 
her face. Like Thomas, we can only say, " My 
Lord and my God!" "Blessed are they who 
have not seen, and yet have believed." 

Who shall limit the love and power of the 
Holy One of Israel, "who giveth not account 
of any of His matters"? "For God speaketh 
once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In 
a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep 
sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon 
the bed ; then He openeth the ears of men, 
and sealeth their instruction." (Job xxxiii. 

I4r-16. 

The eternal Father is God, and not man : 
He meets the poor and ignorant, and them that 
are out of the way, with that Divine love we 



188 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

are so slow to believe, and of which we are so 
cruelly suspicious. 

One day I was in great sorrow over the 
backsliding of a dear brother. I felt as if 
Satan stood by to resist every effort I made 
to help this wanderer. 

During a night of special prayer and many 
tears, the word came to my mind, "If thou 
wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory 
of God." I took my Bible to comfort my heart 
with God's blessed promises, and I opened at 
John xi. " Thy brother shall rise again." 

"Said I not nnto thee, if thou wouldest 
believe ?" Blessed promise! I did believe; 
but it was not an abiding belief. I looked 
on the waves of circumstances, and not on Him 
who ruled them. All without was dark; and 
I, more sad -hearted and dispirited, listened to 
the tempter's voice, "Hath God said?" 

I sat in the garden praying to the gracious 
Comforter to comfort me, and to deliver His 
wandering child. As I prayed I received 
strength to take God at His word. 

My eye was attracted to a spider's web on a 
rose tree near me in the sunlight. A poor fly 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 189 

was caught in the mesh ; the more it struggled, 
the deeper it was entangled. I felt fascinated, 
so that I could not withdraw my eyes. The 
great black spider in ambush was ready to 
destroy his victim. All hope seemed over, 
when a blast of wind rent the prison in twain, 
and the bright -winged captive flew by me in 
freedom. Then I praised the Lord. 

Six long years of waiting, with the promise 
given me often conned, and the picture of the 
broken web often before me, when lo ! the 
stone was rolled away, and he that was dead 
came forth. 

" My Father ! I thank Thee that Thou hast 
heard me." 

A day or two after this -blessed assurance of 
life was given me, I received a letter from a 
Christian friend, and she gave me for my por- 
tion — " Said I not unto thee, that, if thou 
wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory 
of God?" 

I did not apply it at once, yet the words 
deeply impressed my heart. But in the night- 
watch the word came again, and I was led 
back step by step through my hopeless unbe- 



190 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

lief, my cruel doubt of God's faithfulness, my 
ready ear to the tempter's voice, the night of 
weeping, and the morning of hope, when in 
a parable the Lord wrought out His loving 
promise ; and, in tears of joy and mingled 
shame at my own unfaithfulness, I again ex- 
claimed — 

" This God is my God for ever and ever ! 
He shall be my guide even unto death !" 

" Only believe .'" wondrous words, 
That wake the doubting soul's dull chords ! 

'Tis Jesus pleadeth thus. 
" Only believe ! " Lord of light, 
Help us to watch for Thee by night, 

Who watched long nights for us. 

Thou art " the same," though faith is low ; 
From Thee the streams of mercy flow : 

Jehovah Lord ! " The same ' ' 
To-morrow, yesterday, to-day ; 
Unchanged thy word with us shall stay, 

For Faithful is thy name. 

The Holy One of Israel is not limited to 
time or place or circumstance ; it is the natural 
understanding that limits Him. Often has He 
opened my ears in the night season, and sealed 
instruction for myself and for others who were 
on my heart. The following dream influenced 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 191 

my spiritual life, and, as I have spread it before 
the Lord, light has dawned upon it, and it 
became a teacher leading me to profit. 

I was alone in sickness among strangers. All 
probability of my recovery at this time was 
over. I had only one desire, to bear testimony 
before the world as to what the Lord had done 
for my soul, and to depart and be with Christ, 
which is far better. I looked with complacency 
on increasing weakness ; and the longing of my 
soul to be with Him who had redeemed me, 
hid from me the blessed privilege of serving 
and suffering for Him on earth. 

I had no desire to return to life, and its 
snares and conflicts. I feared that if health 
should be renewed, I might dishonour Him 
who had done such great things for me. I 
had yet to learn that the Saviour from eternal 
death was the Saviour from sin — the great 
High Priest, the ever-living Sacrifice. 

In a vision of the night I was sailing alone 
in a dark vessel over the wild murky sea, heavy 
clouds above me, the wide waters around me. 
As I proceeded the sky became brighter, the 
waves calmer, and I beheld in the distance the 



192 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

faint outline of a headland jutting into the 
ocean. As I neared it land extended far and 
wide before me. Every moment it was more 
clearly discernible. Most beautiful was that 
calm sunlit shore. 

I felt my voyage was over. As my tempest- 
tossed bark neared the coast, more and more of 
the glorious land opened on my sight. I saw 
angelic forms awaiting me ; but I only thought 
of One whom I saw not. My foot was on the 
prow of my boat. With a rapturous shout of 
joy I was about to spring on shore, when from 
out a glory-cloud above me came forth the hand 
of a man. It pressed gently but firmly on my 
breast, so that I was impelled backward to the 
seat I had quitted. Then it was withdrawn. 
My boat returned to the ocean, under the 
louring sky, and into the chill atmosphere; and 
the "delightsome" land receded from my view. 

" Go hack and save others" said a sweet and 
sonorous voice. The oars were placed in my 
hands, but I plied them so feebly that the boat 
seemed to lie motionless like a log upon the 
water, and I said mournfully, " I make no pro- 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 193 

Then I beheld a huge vessel strike upon a 
rock. It went to pieces. Hundreds of people 
were drowning : many clung to floating spars ; 
some battled with the waters, then sinking 
were seen no more. 

A sharp anchor was cast into my heart by 
an unseen hand; to the anchor a long cable 
was attached, which floated far and wide upon 
the waters. One after another clung to the 
cable. I could not see the way I was going; I 
seemed stationary, and again went up my cry, 
" I make no way." 

Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Look 
back, and see how far you have come." 

I obeyed, and in the distance saw the wreck, 
which was fast disappearing under the billows. 
I gazed upon the faces of those who looked up 
to me in eager wonder, clinging to my cable. 
With every stroke of my oar the anchor grap- 
pled deeper and deeper into my bleeding heart. 
Then I struck back with my living freight to 
the sunny land. As the surpassing glory broke 
again upon my sight I awoke, and found myself 
still in the body of sin and suffering. 

From that day I date the new light which 




194 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

broke upon my heart, on the privilege of living 
here, that the will of the Father may be done 
on earth, as it is in heaven. Shall unbelief 
limit the tender fellowship of the Son of Man, 
who saith, "Without Me ye can do nothing"? 
And shall our natural understanding, and the 
adversary of souls, insinuate that there are 
occasions too trival for the consideration of 
the God of the whole earth ? 

My service (for I would still recognize it as 
service, though it will appear mean to other 
eyes) has been principally carried on in way- 
side watching, or in a chamber of suffering, in 
weakness, in strange places, and in solitude, 
or under what appeared unpropitious circum- 
stances. Did I regard the result of my labours 
I should be weary, and faint by the way ; but 
it is impossible to estimate here how much we 
have been allowed to do for the exercise of our 
own faith, and how much will be visible to the 
reapers. Enough if we have sought only the 
will of Him who has called us to follow Him. 
The wise father may command his son to wield 
his hammer on the granite rock. Day after day 
the feeble stroke may become stronger; yet the 



THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS. 195 

granite receives but a few faint marks, that a 
graver's chisel might have traced. Complain- 
ingly he points out to his father that he has 
made no progress ; yet still he proceeds with 
what seems profitless labour, The father finds 
him patiently at his work, with muscles de- 
veloped and healthy vigour bracing his frame ; 
then pointing to the sinews of the arm that 
have obediently performed the task enjoined, he 
smiles on him. That smile is sweeter to the 
heart of the obedient child than without it 
would have been the sight of any monument of 
granite that might have been wrought. 

" Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear 
much fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples." The 
fruit must spring from the root : " I came not 
to do mine own will, but the will of Him that 
sent Me." " This is the work of God, that ye 
believe on Him whom He hath sent." 

I have dwelt upon this, in consequence of 
receiving the often sorrowful complaints of my 
dear brethren and sisters, mourning the decay 
of their usefulness, and regretting that the 
afflictions with which the Father has visited 
them have withdrawn them from the busy 
o 2 



196 THE SECRET OF THE LOUD. 

field. The vine does not labour, it gives forth 
its fruit. The Lord does not prune and dig 
about the wild thorn, but about trees of His 
own right hand planting. 

One of my readers may exclaim, " We have 
no need of dreams and visions to teach us." 

I answer, "Shall not the Lord do what He 
will with His own ?" The Lord chose to mani- 
fest Himself in this gracious way to me. It 
may be said, we have no need of the fair blos- 
soms that every season make the earth glad 
and bright ; no need of the sweet endearments 
of loving kindred, and the unnumbered bless- 
ings that fall upon our way. 

Oh, may He manifest Himself how, and 
when, and where He will ! — in dreams by night 
and in parables by day ; in His written Word ; 
in His providence ; in the strokes of adversity 
and the sufferings of this mortal body. " Sirs, 
we would see JESUS." 






THE GEE AT ADVERSARY. 197 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE GREAT ADVERSARY. 



" What shall we do, that we might work the works of God ? 

Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of 

God, that ye "believe on Him whom He hath sent." — 

John vi. 28, 29. 

" Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." — 

John iv. 48. 

£hEN the Lord claimed Paul as His 
own, the first words of the stricken 
Pharisee evidenced his desire to do the 
Lord's will. In persecuting Christ in 
His people, he had been doing his own 
will long enough. The Lord at once commands 
as to the first step, and gives promise of fur- 
ther direction : " Arise, and go into the city." 
"I will show him how great things he must 
suffer for my sake" was the next beam of light 
upon the ministry of the apostle of the Gen- 
tiles. The " secret of the Lord " was with the 
chosen vessel, and he could offer himself in the 




198 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

fulness of confiding affection. He had heard 
the voice of Him who spake as never man 
spake ; and then He could say, " I am ready 
not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusa- 
lem for the name of the Lord Jesus." 

Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy 
Ghost, is chosen to serve tables ; but he" did 
great wonders and miracles among the people," 
and " they were not able to resist the wisdom 
and the spirit by which he spake." Not only 
were the tables served, and the truth declared 
by word of mouth (a prophecy of no smooth 
things); but we are at once shown the enmity 
of the world to the Holy Spirit, for the hearers 
were cut to the heart, and gnashed on him with 
their teeth. Had he sought to please man by 
interesting his auditory, or flattering their in- 
telligence, they had not stoned him to death ; 
nor would he have been enabled to look stead- 
fastly into heaven, and see the glory of God, 
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 
The Lord needs witnesses in this present evil 
world. Much fruit is not recorded as the 
result of Stephen's last sermon, though he laid 
down his life for the preaching thereof. Bit 



THE GREAT ADVERSARY. 199 

what had he done ? — the will of Him that sent 
him. And that witness for his Lord and Master 
has been blessed to millions of souls, and will 
be blessed to millions more. Like his Lord, he 
prays first for his murderers ; and the result is, 
the Gospel proclaimed far and near by word of 
mouth, and the power of the same Spirit felt, 
by one at that time a Pharisee of the Pharisees 
— a young man named Saul. " Ye shall receive 
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon 
you ; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me," is the 
last promise of the risen Saviour. 

In these last days, when Antichrist is ram- 
pant, with infidelity and spiritualism on one 
hand, and Eomish superstition on the other, we 
need to test the subtle work of the Evil One, 
who is stealing on us as an angel of light, to 
deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. " To 
the law and to the testimony; if they speak 
not according to this word, it is because there is 
no light in them." In the ark of the covenant 
there was no place for man's theology : the law 
of the Lord alone was there. In the heart of 
Jesus there was only room for God : " I delight 
to do thy will, my God ; yea, thy law is 



200 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

within my heart." " Ye are my witnesses, 
saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have 
chosen ; that ye may know and believe me, 
and understand that I am He." (Ps. xl. 8 ; Isa. 
xliii. 10.) 

It is not given to all, like Peter, to preach, 
and then to see three thousand converts as 
the fruit of their sermon ; or, like Stephen, 
to be stoned for the faithful delivery of his 
Master's message ; but it is given to all to 
take up the cross daily, and follow the Lamb 
whithersoever He goeth. 

" Henceforth I call you not servants, for the 
servant knoweth not what his lord doeth ; 
but I have called you friends" (John xv. 15.) 
This was not spoken by the Lord to the multi- 
tude around, nor to His mother and brethren 
who stood without, but to those dear com- 
panions of three years' ministry who sat about 
Him. " Behold my mother and my brethren ; 
for whosoever shall do the will of my Father 
which is in heaven, the same is my brother, 
and sister, and mother." (Matt. xii. 49, 50.) That 
Ave may know His will, and do it, we have the 
infallible guide of His Word, the promise to 



THE GREAT ADVERSARY. 201 

the single eye and the pure heart. "When He 
putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before 
them, and the sheep follow Him; for they 
know His voice." (John x. 4.) 

Tf the Holy Spirit guides you to follow the 
Lord in action, you may expect that obstacles 
will arise in your path. These may appear of 
little consequence when you yield to them, but 
tbey will become the beam in the eye that 
shall mar the vision, and in the end will bring 
forth disappointment and pain. 

Satan will not present to you what he would 
offer to the worldling : it will be some form of 
"good works" that shall draw you from the 
path of simple obedience in which the Lord 
has called you to follow Him; or it may be 
some trivial act that will appear of little im- 
portance whether you do it or not. He will 
place before you a natural enjoyment that shall 
lull you to slumber, when you need special 
vigilance ; or tempt you to a weak yielding of 
principle or action, that the natural under- 
standing translates as being " all things to all 
men," to lure you from the path of simplicity 
in which you desire to walk. Give not room 



202 THE SECRET OP THE LORD. 

for temptation ; no, not for a moment. "E 
the devil, and he will flee from you." 

We are long in learning what a fertile field 
of temptation is open to Satan in the mind 
and the imagination. The wicked spirits in 
heavenly places do not war with worldlings, 
but with the Christian soldier who is looking 
for victory in the strength of our great Fore- 
runner within the veil. We may have taken 
one step in dependence on the Lord, and the 
result may be very different to that which we 
anticipated. Discouraged and disappointed, if 
we seek not the sanctuary of the God of Jacob, 
we become an easy prey to doubt and distrust. 
The Accuser injects fear into the mind. And 
if we do not put on the whole armour of God, 
we are again brought into legal bondage. The 
eye of faith is taken off the object of faith, and 
fixed on self. This is an unsatisfactory centre, 
and leads far from peace. " In Me ye shall 
have peace." 

" lieturn unto thy rest, my soul !" Christ 
is thy wisdom. Those very events which you 
are deploring, and on account of' which you 
have been led faithlessly to say, " It cannot be 



THE GREAT ADVERSARY. 203 

of the Lord," are perhaps the very circum- 
stances which were to spring from the step 
you took. 

I am not supposing a case of needless action, 
but one of watchful, prayerful seeking to do 
His will. Self-judgment is one thing ; the ac- 
cusation of the Enemy of souls is another. "We 
look to the mercy-seat ; the blood is there to 
cleanse. But if you look for certain positive 
results as the fruit of the step you took, marvel 
not that you are disappointed. 

The Lord has promised that we shall know 
His will. He has nowhere covenanted that we 
shall understand His way. His command is, 
"In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He 
shall direct thy paths." This commandment is 
exceeding broad, and embraces every possible 
contingency. It is not in much pondering on 
results, or in much serving, that Satan is kept 
at bay ; but by a simple, child-like dependence 
on a faithful God and Father. 

The gracious Lord, who giveth liberally and 
upbraideth not, has taught me, at various 
seasons of my spiritual life, through His hidden 
ones. And often, in solitary places, when I 



204 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

have longed for Christian fellowship, lie has 
guided me to some one as lonely as myself, 
through whom I have been instructed. At 
such a season He once led me, after many days 
of prayer, to a cabin on the roadside, so rudely 
constructed with planks, that in passing I won- 
dered if it were inhabited. One morning I 
reached it. The door was ajar, and, looking 
in, I saw an aged woman, whose back was 
towards me ; she was peeling potatoes. On one 
side of her was the kettle, into which when 
prepared she dropped them ; on the other side 
was the basket ; but before her was an open 
Bible, into which she glanced from time to 
time as she proceeded with her work. Near 
her was a girl of about eight years of age. 

I watched them for a few minutes un- 
observed, then gently placing my hand upon 
the woman's shoulder, I spoke of Him whose 
message of love lay beneath her finger. The 
simple wisdom of her reply made me glad in 
the Lord. 

I asked to whom the child belonged. 

" To me," she answered ; she is my grand- 
child." 



THE GREAT ADVERSARY. 205 

I said to the child, " Do you know that your 
grandmother is the daughter of a King?" 

The old disciple bent her head backward, 
and looking in my face with a beaming smile, 
answered, 

" Thou also art one of them ; for thy speech 
bewrayeth thee." 

" The royal family are poor here." 

"No," said my bright -faced friend, "no; 
we're tick now, rich now. My Father owns 
the cattle on a thousand hills, and every beast 
of the forest is His." 

She had been feasting on the bread that 
cometh down from heaven, and her face told of 
whom she had been taking sweet counsel. 

When I saw her again it was no longer thus 
with her. She was greatly depressed. She had 
been ill, and sorely buffeted by Satan. She 
replied to something I had said on Satan's 
devices to stumble the saints : 

" Yes, I know that it is sin that makes my 
sorrow. Satan is like a dog \ if you leave the 
door ajar, he puts in his head ; and then, if 
you do not shut the door, he puts in his paw ; 
and if you don't get up and slam the door, he 



206 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

gets in his whole body. Ah, ma'am, I don't slam 
the door in his face. I wish I could always do 
that. Just as often I open the door, set a chair 
for the Evil One, and let him be seated." 

" Be of good courage," I said ; " Jesus has 
overcome him, and you will overcome in His 
strength." 

"I have been thinking," she said. "I have 
been very ill, and could not get up, and so I 
have had a good deal of time to think, you see. 
I am come to the conclusion that there is 
nothing like a child of grace in me." 

" That is Satan at the door," I said, trying to 
draw her from her sadness. 

" No, ma'am, no;' she said despondingly, " I 
am not a bit like those good old martyrs. I 
said to myself last night, when I could not 
sleep, ' Now, I say I love God ; now would I 
die for Him ? Would I be sawn in two, or 
burnt on a gridiron, or with faggots in the 
market-place, or be torn in pieces, for the faith 
that's in me?' No!" repeated the poor old 
woman, shaking her head sorrowfully, while 
her wan face told how real had been the con- 
flict. Satan had put in his paw. 



THE GREAT ADVERSARY. 207 

" Has the Lord called on you to be burnt 
iu the market-place, or to be torn in pieces ? " 
I enquired. " If so, be sure that he will give 
to you, as He did to His martyrs of old, grace 
to witness for Him. Dying grace for dying 
hours. ' Without Me ye can do nothing.' " 
"I see it !" she exclaimed joyfully, " I see it!" 
And Satan ceased to fight, for the harassed 
dove was resting in the bosom of redeeming 
love. 




208 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 



CHAPTER X. 



' Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so Ion? time with you, 
and yet hast thou not known Me ?" — John xiv. 9. 

oEVEE yet was a soul born again of 
God to be placed in such a position 
that fellowship with Jesus was unat- 
tainable. That would be to deny us 
the only solace here, the brightest hope for 
eternity. What can compare for a moment 
with the favour of the King's countenance? 
The smile of Jesus is a foretaste of that bliss 
which we look to enjoy as an everlasting 
portion. It is love that makes the pilgrim's 
home of glory. It is not the promise of " no 
more pain" to the sick, nor of ties of earth 
re-knit to the mourner, that constitutes the 
bliss of heaven. It is that which makes our 
delight here — the unclouded presence and com- 
panionship of a risen Lord and Saviour. 



TESTIMONY. 209 

When, commissioned by their Lord, the 
mourning women went forth to tell to His dis- 
ciples the glad tidings of His resurrection, the 
disciples treated it as an idle tale, and believed 
them not. Nevertheless, this did not invalidate 
the fact. Those who were most interested in the 
matter ran to the tomb, notwithstanding that 
the women had proclaimed that Jesus had 
risen. They desired to assure themselves that 
it was no fabrication of excited feeling, but a 
confirmation of the promise so tenderly spoken 
to console them, had they but believed. (Mark 
xiv. 27, 28.) Their heavenly Master, having 
foretold their denial and desertion, did not 
withdraw His love. He continueth faithful. 

To the travellers to Emmaus He appeared in 
"another form;" but it was the same Jesus. 
(Mark xvi. 12.) They had equally to endure 
the rejection of their testimony, as the women 
had done, because that testimony embraced a 
clearer revelation of the person of Jesus than 
others had then received. Oh, if their hearts 
burned within them by the way, how was it 
that they wist not that it was Jesus? Who 
besides could open their understanding to un- 






210 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 



derstand the Scriptures, which testified of these 
things ? Having once felt Him near them, how 
could they willingly part with this blessed 
Companion of their lonely way ? Well might 
they pray Him to "abide" with them. Was 
He hard to be entreated ? No ! When did He 
yet leave the soul that drinks life, and joy, and 
strength from His presence only ? 

While the friends of Jesus were receiving 
only the testimony of others they doubted. He 
had been long time with them, and yet they 
had not known Him. (John xiv. 9.) They 
journeyed with Him as a stranger ; they spoke 
of the things which had been done, but not of 
His words, which should have prepared them for 
what had happened. But He communed with 
them. He lets them hold Him by their loving 
constraint. (Song of Solomon, iii. 4.) He breaks 
to them the bread, the hallowed token, His 
divine legacy ; and then indeed He is recognized 
as their ever-living God and Saviour. Ah, then 
they waited not to discuss with the multitude, 
who knew Him not, whether such things could 
be. The fire within their own breasts witnessed 
with whom they had walked and talked. 



TESTIMONY. 211 

Dear soul, do you believe that you may be so 
satisfied with the companionship of Jesus, that 
earth's passing pleasures cease to win a desire 
after them ? If you have a Friend fairer than 
the children of men, One whose lips are full 
of grace and truth, you have a more powerful 
magnet than the world's fascinations. Do you 
believe this ? Or do you aver that this com- 
panionship is a theory of the imagination only ? 
Look well to it. Such a thought is not of God, 
but from the father of lies. You may cavil at 
my words ; but search the Scriptures, and seek 
this communion experimentally. If you are as 
sincere as Thomas was, go to the Lord Himself, 
and He will solve your doubt. Why give the 
half-hearted assent that brings neither rest to 
yourself nor glory to your Lord? Why not 
be a vessel sanctified and meet for the Master's 
use? He is as willing to give His presence 
now, as when in the morning twilight on the 
shores of Tiberias He invited the toiling dis- 
ciples to leave their nets, exchanging for them 
that companionship which He desired more 
than themselves. 

The blessing of the soul that believeth lies 
p 2 



212 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

in fellowship. Sin is the one only circumstance 
that can destroy it. There are days when our 
eyes may be holden that we cannot see Him ; 
but we must look for Him and expect Him. The 
Lord does not call us to the warfare at our own 
charges ; and the difficulties which sometimes 
seem to obstruct the path in which we have 
sought to walk with Him are but answers to 
former prayers for patience and meekness. But 
we must believe that He is willing to remove 
the obstacles in our way, or enable us to over- 
come them, as shall be most to His glory. 

I have never committed the least matter to 
Him that I have not had reason for endless 
praise. Praise which I have begun here, for 
the results which He has allowed me to see, 
and praise which I feel assured is to be eternal, 
for what I shall see hereafter. 

The infidel will say, there are certain laws 
which will be carried on, whether you see them 
or not, whether you pray or not. When Christ 
says He is Wisdom, and that all things are mine, 
I understand that wisdom is mine, and I may 
seek it. How can I, a poor helpless worm, think 
to direct the smallest matter in any wisdom of 



TESTIMONY. 213 

my own ? The poison of death is on everything 
that was made good and beautiful in its time. 

How often has some evidence of His tender 
care humbled and brought back the wandering 
heart, while the expected chastening has passed 
by! There glided in the beam of His sweet 
compassion. His voice has whispered, " I have 
not forgotten thou art dust ; I will never leave 
thee, nor forsake thee." 

We fondly prize the expressions of affec- 
tionate remembrance from a beloved friend in 
another land — seeds, perhaps, of a foreign flower 
we are to rear on English ground — a text written 
out for us — some handicraft of busy fingers, 
not of much worth in others' eyes, and value- 
less to those who, it may be, neither know nor 
love the beloved one who so fondly remembers 
us. To us they are treasures. We read therein 
the love that designed, and the care that ac-- 
complished all for us. How humbling it is to 
remember, that while the vessel which conveyed 
the gifts was speeding on its way, we were 
untrue to or forgetful of the giver. But this is 
fallible love, love that to-morrow may change, 
which doubt or suspicion may at least have 



214 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

clouded. God's love changes not — it is ever- 
lasting. "God is faithful, by whom ye were 
called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus 
Christ." You who have proved this testify in 
your daily walk that you have to do with a 
living God. All power is given unto Him. 

In so far as you keep close company with 
the King will your conversation declare plainly 
that you seek another country, even a heavenly. 
He who rejoiced in the habitable parts of the 
earth, and whose delights were with the sons 
of men (Proverbs viii.), rejoices over the new 
creation now. To all that He has received from 
the Father He bids willing hearts welcome. 
He longs after that fellowship with His people 
which the evil heart of unbelief alone prevents 
the soul born of God from enjoying. 

Why forfeit one hour of heavenly communion 
for any earthly mess of pottage, however sweet 
to nature, — whether the snare come in the form 
of active work of our own devising, or some 
meaner pleasure over which we are left to weep 
bitter tears? No matter what it is that you 
have discovered to hide His beauty ; even if it 
seem lawful, it must be placed in His hands. 



TESTIMONY. 215 

If it is of the flesh, take it to Him, and He 
will consume it, and deliver you. No matter 
what it be, take it to Jesus. Let nothing rob 
you of your joy. He is able to save to the 
uttermost. He knows how to deliver you out 
of temptation, so that you may walk with Him 
in the light, cleansed from all sin. 

Have you not experienced circumstances and 
opportunity leagued against you on account of 
some besetting sin ? and has He not been faith- 
ful, and given you power to cry, "Let me not 
do this great wickedness and sin against God " ? 
And He has delivered you ; and He has made 
a way of escape, and cheered your soul with 
tender sympathy. " There hath no temptation 
taken you but such as is common to man : but 
God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be 
tempted above that ye are able ; but will with 
the temptation also make a way to escape, that 
ye may be able to bear it." (1 Cor. x. 13.) 

If you are one with Christ, then you expect 
to reign with Him, to share His glory eternally ; 
and you desire His fellowship here. Have you 
counted the cost? There are temptations in 
the wilderness. You may have to watch with 



216 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

Him through midnight hours, with no earthly- 
friend to bear you company. On the road 
there may be Gethsemanes you never dreamed 
of. There is the cross, from which there is no 
escape. Will you turn aside from following 
Jesus, when He will be the companion of your 
way? Will you not in His strength take on 
you the easy yoke of the will of the Father, 
and learn of Him who carried it before you ? 

The simple faith that works by love will 
keep the bright hope of your calling before 
you. You will centre all your delights in Him, 
and realize His delight in you. Legal bondage 
is incompatible with fellowship ; for the fear of 
the Lord is to hate evil, — not the fear of a slave 
toward his master, nor of a culprit toward his 
judge ; but the fear of the Lord is strong con- 
fidence, and His children shall have a place 
of refuge. 

Fellowship with Jesus lies not alone in plea- 
surable emotions : you must learn it in suffering 
and in service. Have you, out of your full 
heart's happiness, babbled some of its sweet 
secrets to one who knows not their precious - 
ness, and been met by the cautious doubt and 



TESTIMONY. 217 

scorn of a fellow-traveller? Those who live 
contented with knowing very little of the Lord, 
who has laid down His life for them when 
enemies (Rom. v. 8), will treat the idea of His 
companionship as a chimera, and the breathing 
of His Holy Spirit in the temple of His praise 
as fanaticism, or as an idle tale. 

Fear not I You are only learning to walk in a 
path He has already trodden. When the people 
said, " Thou hast a devil, and art mad," neither 
did His brethren believe in Him. " Blessed" 
are ye who are thus reviled, for He has pro- 
nounced it. You will press closer to His 
wounded side, and say, "Thou knowest all 
things ; Thou knowest that I love Thee." Let 
your words be few. The power will live in 
your life. Christians who are content with 
externals will not comprehend that divine 
strength which arises from intercourse with 
Him. But guard it jealously. Amid the storms 
of earth, it will keep your heart fixed, and 
yourself at peace, without one desire for those 
palling pleasures that find a place in the hearts 
of lukewarm Christians. 

Yet conceal not the fruit of the land, be 



218 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

faithful to the light He has given you, for "to 
him which hath shall be given." The day may 
not be distant when others also may long for a 
better portion; and though they now despise 
the pleasant land, and disbelieve the word of 
the Lord, yet some day they may whisper, " Let 
us go up." He who was your shield shall be 
your exceeding great reward. Fear not ! speak 
of that good land which the Lord our God doth 
give us. Oh, tell them of that " land of brooks 
of water, of fountains and depths that spring 
out of valleys and hills." Let them hear that 
" the Lord thy God He is God, the faithful God, 
that keepeth covenant and mercy with them 
that love Him." " For they got not the land in 
possession by their own sword, neither did their 
own arm save them: but Thy right hand, and 
Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, 
because Thou hadst a .favour unto them." (Ps. 
xliv. 3.) 

Think not that in this walk of faith all the 
trials, and conflicts, and afflictions, of the 
wilderness have come to an end. The old 
Adam is not dead, though dying daily; but 
his last groan will be the first note of the 



TESTIMONY. 219 

song of triumph : " Death is swallowed up in 
victory ! " 

The fruit of sanctification springs from the 
root of redemption. Love to Him who bought 
us will not wax less fervent if He permits us 
to learn how sore are the wounds from an evil 
heart of unbelief. Whether this is taught at 
conversion, through the first deep waters of 
conviction, or whether it be by gradual ex- 
perience, may differ with individuals ; but this 
spiritual knowledge must be learned here. God 
knows what is in the heart of man; but He 
would have men learn something of it also. 

The fiery darts of the Wicked One may assail 
the child of God, but "no weapon that is formed 
against thee shall prosper." (Isa. liv. 17.) No 
difficulty which seems to obstruct his path in 
heavenly communion, but shall in the end prove 
how "good is the Lord." Thus we learn that 
the God of the hills is the God of the valleys, 
and the place of weeping becomes the valley 
of blessing. 

Nothing can supply the place of secret com- 
munion — deep realized intercourse with the 
Friend of sinners and the King of saints ! 



220 THE SECRET OF THE LORD. 

Stint not yourself of tins privilege. Neither 
teaching, nor preaching, nor works; neither 
books of devotion, nor communion of saints, 
can supply this loss. No commentary on His 
holy Word can bring you the fresh glory of the 
light He gives direct from Himself. It is the 
bread broken and given by His own hand for 
your daily sustenance. Meditate upon it, then 
will it be your delight, and you will be able to 
say, " How sweet are Thy words unto my taste : 
. . . therefore I esteem all Thy precepts concern- 
ing all things to be right." (Ps. cxix.) He has 
promised to manifest Himself to us, as He doth 
not unto the world. Shall we not take God at 
His word, and believe in Him who has said, 
"Lo, I am with you alway"? 

As there is deeper anguish than language 
can express, but which is communicated sym- 
pathetically, so there are deeper foretastes of 
the fellowship of Jesus, which is hereafter to 
satisfy us, than can be told by words. You 
must yourself taste of the sweetness to under- 
stand it. But shall any therefore delay enter- 
ing into the state of rest ? 

Do you ask for a joy that shall never perish? 



TESTIMONY. 221 

— a hope that will never wax dim ? Do you sigh 
for an interest that every day shall increase 
and deepen, and a peace passing all under- 
standing? Place your hand in the pierced 
hand of Jesus, and walk with God ; for " truly 
our fellowship is with the Father, and with 
His Son Jesus Christ." 

"I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven 
and earth, because Thou hast hid these things 
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed 
them unto babes. Even so, Father ; for so it 
seemed good in Thy sight." (Matt. xi. 25, 26.) 




LONDON : 
MORGAN AND CHASE, LUDGATE HILL. 



